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Rare Travel Books Page 1

1. Sir C. Wyville Thomson.
The Voyage of the Challenger: 
The Atlantic, A Preliminary Account of the General Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. 'Challenger' During the Year 1873 and the Early Part of the Year 1876
Price : $400 Buy now

 Published by Macmillan and Co.  London[ 1877;- 2 Volumes;- Original green cloth covers with embossed decorations to both covers, and embossed decorations in gilt to both spines and gilt lettering along the spine;- Both Volumes complete with all there fold-out maps and engravings. A beautiful, fine set of a highly collectable, books. Rare/Scarce in fine condition.

"A prominent Scottish naturalist, Wyville Thomson was born at Bonsyde in Linlithgow, West Lothian, on 5 March 1830, the son of a surgeon in the service of the British East India Company. He was baptized Wyville Thomas Charles Thomson. Wyville Thomson is remembered for his studies of the biological conditions of the deep seas. Being interested in crinoids, and prompted by the results of the dregings of Michael Sars in the deep sea off the Norwegian coasts, he persuaded the Royal Navy to grant him use of HMS Lightning and HMS Porcupine for deep sea dredging expeditions in the summers of 1868 and 1869. They showed that animal life existed down to depths of 650 fathoms, that all marine invertebrate groups are present at this depth, and that deep-sea temperatures are not as constant as had been supposed, but vary considerably, and indicate oceanic circulation. These results were described in The Depths of the Sea, which he published in 1873. The remarkable hydrographic and zoological results which Wyville Thomson had demonstrated, in addition to the growing demands of ocean telegraphy, soon led to the Royal Navy to grant use of HMS Challenger for a global expedition. Wyville Thomson was selected as chief scientist, and the ship sailed on 23 December 1872. The Challenger Expedition was deemed a great success, and on his return Wyville Thomson received a number of academic honours, as well as a knighthood. In 1873 he published "Depths of the Sea" based on initial findings from the expedition. In 1880 he published two volumes (having completed writing in 1877), ....  

2. Warner, Rev. Richard
An History of the Abbey of Glaston; and the
Town of Glastonbury.
Price : SOLDBuy now

 Richard Cruttwell, Bath 1826 -  20 stunning plates with one hand-coloured plate. Original boards, tan leather spine and dark cloth covers, with a black label and gilt lettering to top of spine.  Externally near fine. Internally some light browning and occasional spot of foxing, small round damp stain to end pages,  but the text is generally quite bright and clean. Plates foxed and browned to edges, damp stain to corner (outside of plate mark), images generally clean. With twenty plates (one hand-coloured) Rare in original condition, some water-stains to some plates all with tissue guards...still in a fine condition.

3. Notes on an Excursion to Harrân, 
in Padan-Aram, 
and Thence over Mount Gilead and the Jordan, to Sechem.
Price : $1,200 Buy now

 BEKE, Charles T. 
Publisher:London: Royal Geographical Society, 1862.

This is Charles Beke's captivating report recounting his expedition to historic regions in south Syria, seeking ancient Harrân, capital of the Biblical kingdom Padan-Aram. The accompanying map indicates ancient placenames while tracing Beke's routes from the entrance of the Nahr al-Kalb on the Mediterranean Sea, to Beirut, across the Western Mountain Range of Lebanon (Mount Lebanon), to the ancient city of Damascus, exploring Harrân and its environs, then continuing through Hauran (previously Sanamein) and across the River Jordan to Nabulus (site of ancient Shechem), Jerusalem and finally Jaffa. Also included is a report by John Wortabet, on The Hermon, and the Physical Features of Syria and Northern Palestine. 

Excerpt from Beke's text: "The excursion into Syria, from which I have recently returned, was undertaken for the purpose of verifying the position of Harran, in Padan Aram, mentioned in the Book of Genesis and in the Acts of the Apostles. This place has generally been supposed to be represented by Harrân, a well known town on the river Bilik, in Mesopotamia, beyond the Euphrates; but many years ago I saw reason to doubt this identification..." End Excerpt. 

34 pages, plus an early Fold-out Colour Map measuring 8 inches x 7 inches. These are the original text pages and map, printed in 1862. In a handsome period-style binding, brown cloth over marbled boards, gilt title to spine.

4. STANYAN, Abraham [published anonymously]; 
An Account of Switzerland, Written in the Year 1714
Price : $400 Buy now

published inLondon, by Jacob Tonson, 1714, First edition.() 12mo [20 x 12.5 cm]; [viii], 247 pp, wood-engraved vignette on title page and headpiece., contemporary leather binding;- interior clean, near fine.; The author Abraham Stanyan, describes the people, customs, economy and trade, militia, as well as the government and democratic institutions, which he has a particular interest in, being later appointed to Undersecretary of State and Clerk to the Privy Council. The book was the first significant book on the country by an English traveller. The appendix is an Account of the Allies of the Switzers.

 Abraham Stanyan was posted to Switzerland in 1705, and during his tenure came a pivotal period in the tensions between Britain and France. He returned to England for a promotion in 1714, and, having ‘made himself master of the complex politics, history, and constitution of Switzerland’, he published the first edition of this volume. It ‘was a highly informed and clear survey which was still seen by Lord Chesterfield, a generation later, as the standard work on its subject’ ...Rare 1st. Edition.

5. TENNENT, 
Sir James Emerson Ceylon 1859
Price : $400 Buy now

An Account Of The Island Physical, Historical, And Topographical With Notices Of Its Natural History, Antiquities And Productions…

London: Longman, Green, Longman, And Roberts, 1859., 1859. 2 Volumes. 8vo. pp. xxxix, [1], 643, [1]; 1 p.l., [v]-xvi, 663. 4 maps ;- 2 wood-engraved frontis. & numerous wood-engraved text illus. , maps & plans. contemporary half calf . The author was civil secretary to the colonial government of Ceylon from 1845 to 1850. His account, which went through five editions in eight months, contains "a vast amount of information arranged with clearness and precision." Included are sections on physical geography (geology, climate, vegetation), zoology, Singhalese chronicles, population, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, metal working, engineering, the arts, social life, sciences, Singhalese literature, mediaeval history (Ceylon as known to the Greeks and Romans, Indian, Arabian, and Persian authorities, the Chinese, and the Moors, Genoese, and Venetians), modern history (the Portuguese, Dutch, and English in Ceylon), the geographical regions of the island, the elephant, &c. This edition has been revised, the most important alteration being the insertion of a chapter on Buddhism in Ceylon.. Hardcover.

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