RARE BOOKS

Rare and Antiquarian Books of Collector Significance

This category brings together rare and antiquarian books of genuine collector importance, selected for their historical significance, the quality of their illustration and production, and their relevance to the specialist interests — natural history, cartography, travel and exploration, science and the decorative arts — that define the Antique Print & Map Room collection as a whole.

Illustrated natural history volumes represent one of the most significant areas of the rare book collection. The great natural history publications of the 18th and 19th centuries — the works of John Gould on Australian and world ornithology, the botanical publications of Curtis, Redoute and their contemporaries, the zoological surveys that accompanied voyages of exploration — are among the most visually spectacular and historically important books ever produced. When available, complete or substantial volumes from these publications are offered to collectors seeking works of exceptional significance and rarity.

Antiquarian atlases and cartographic works constitute a second major area. The atlas publications of Ortelius, Blaeu, Jansson, Speed and their successors represent the peak of early modern cartographic and typographic achievement, combining geographic knowledge with decorative art of the highest order. Individual maps from these atlases are available throughout the maps section of this collection; complete or partial atlas volumes, when they appear, represent acquisition opportunities of major importance for institutional and private collectors alike.

Voyage and exploration accounts form a third category of particular relevance to this collection’s specialist focus. The published accounts of Cook’s Pacific voyages, Flinders’s circumnavigation of Australia, the Baudin and Freycinet expeditions, and the great 19th-century exploring expeditions to the interior of Africa, the Arctic and the Antarctic produced books that are simultaneously primary historical documents, important scientific publications and finely illustrated works of lasting collector appeal.

Each rare book offered in this category is described with accuracy and priced to reflect its condition, completeness and current market significance. Whether sought as a reading copy, a display object or a serious collector acquisition, these volumes represent the depth and range of the antiquarian book trade at its most specialist.