Nov 7, 2023 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection
106
Great-Britain's Coasting Pilot, owned by a suicidal captain
COLLINS, GREENVILLE. Great Britain’s coasting-pilot: Being a new and exact survey of the sea-coast of England and Scotland from the River of Thames to the Westward and Northward with the islands of Scilly and from thence to Carlyle. Likewise the islands of Orkney and Shetland. Describing all the harbours, rivers, bays, roads, rocks, sands, buoys, beacons, sea-marks, depths of water, latitude, bearings and distances from place to place; the setting and flowing of tides, with directions for the knowing of any place and how to harbour a ship in the same with safety. With directions for coming into the channel between England and France. London: printed for Mount and Page, 1785. A later edition of this classic set of nautical charts, first published in 1693. Full tan modern morocco tooled in blind, raised bands. 20 x 12 3/4 inches (51 x 33 cm); engraved allegorical title (recto blank), title (verso blank), 30 pp. text, blank leaf; and three large folding charts, 38 double-page folding charts, and three single-page charts mounted on guards, all engraved. The binding with light wear and some weakness to the front joint, minor soiling; internally the large folding plates somewhat misfolded, some minor separation on folds, toning to the first two leaves and occasional minor soiling and staining, in all quite a clean copy. The recto of the first blank endpaper bears the graceful inscription in ink of "Captain Thomas Palmer, His Majesty's ship Selby 1799."
This was, on its first publication, the first survey of the country's coast undertaken by a Briton. Collins was a deeply experienced captain, who had served as the master of a vessel under Sir John Narborough between 1669 and 1671 on his voyage of exploration. He became an accomplished hydrographer, and his survey of the coast of Britain was a seven-year endeavor, undertaken with Royal encouragement. The result, though imperfect, remained of practical utility into the nineteenth century. The first edition of 1693 (and a number subsequent) were printed by his cousin, Freeman Collins; the first publisher was Richard Mount, and this edition, issued over a hundred years after the first, was still produced by the firm Mount founded. The plates show some degree of wear, but these must have been extensively reengraved from edition to edition. As noted by ESTC, some plates are numbered (or lettered), but there is not a continuous sequence. The collation is variable. This edition retains the original dedications in the cartouches to the King, Pepys and other contemporaries.
The present copy was owned by Commander Thomas Palmer, who had commissioned HMS Selby in May 1798, when that vessel was purchased into the Navy. He inscribed this book, a very necessary work for a captain sailing in British waters, the following year. In May 1800, while still in command of the Selby, the unfortunate Palmer shot himself to death.
Sold for $1,890
Estimated at $3,000 - $5,000
Includes Buyer's Premium
COLLINS, GREENVILLE. Great Britain’s coasting-pilot: Being a new and exact survey of the sea-coast of England and Scotland from the River of Thames to the Westward and Northward with the islands of Scilly and from thence to Carlyle. Likewise the islands of Orkney and Shetland. Describing all the harbours, rivers, bays, roads, rocks, sands, buoys, beacons, sea-marks, depths of water, latitude, bearings and distances from place to place; the setting and flowing of tides, with directions for the knowing of any place and how to harbour a ship in the same with safety. With directions for coming into the channel between England and France. London: printed for Mount and Page, 1785. A later edition of this classic set of nautical charts, first published in 1693. Full tan modern morocco tooled in blind, raised bands. 20 x 12 3/4 inches (51 x 33 cm); engraved allegorical title (recto blank), title (verso blank), 30 pp. text, blank leaf; and three large folding charts, 38 double-page folding charts, and three single-page charts mounted on guards, all engraved. The binding with light wear and some weakness to the front joint, minor soiling; internally the large folding plates somewhat misfolded, some minor separation on folds, toning to the first two leaves and occasional minor soiling and staining, in all quite a clean copy. The recto of the first blank endpaper bears the graceful inscription in ink of "Captain Thomas Palmer, His Majesty's ship Selby 1799."
This was, on its first publication, the first survey of the country's coast undertaken by a Briton. Collins was a deeply experienced captain, who had served as the master of a vessel under Sir John Narborough between 1669 and 1671 on his voyage of exploration. He became an accomplished hydrographer, and his survey of the coast of Britain was a seven-year endeavor, undertaken with Royal encouragement. The result, though imperfect, remained of practical utility into the nineteenth century. The first edition of 1693 (and a number subsequent) were printed by his cousin, Freeman Collins; the first publisher was Richard Mount, and this edition, issued over a hundred years after the first, was still produced by the firm Mount founded. The plates show some degree of wear, but these must have been extensively reengraved from edition to edition. As noted by ESTC, some plates are numbered (or lettered), but there is not a continuous sequence. The collation is variable. This edition retains the original dedications in the cartouches to the King, Pepys and other contemporaries.
The present copy was owned by Commander Thomas Palmer, who had commissioned HMS Selby in May 1798, when that vessel was purchased into the Navy. He inscribed this book, a very necessary work for a captain sailing in British waters, the following year. In May 1800, while still in command of the Selby, the unfortunate Palmer shot himself to death.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps including the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection, Nov 7, 2023
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Successful Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps Tops $1 Million!
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November 7, 2023 Sale Featured the Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana & Travel
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle's successful auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on November 7, 2023 topped $1 million amid competitive international bidding. Offerings in this popular sale spanned early illuminated manuscripts to modern literary first editions.
The Esmond Bradley Martin Collection of Africana and Travel comprised fascinating material that attracted bidders from around the world. Highlighting the collection was a copy of the first Latin edition of the earliest published collection of voyages, including those of Columbus and Vespucci: the 1508 Milan Fracanzo da Montalboddo, which achieved a strong $239,400. The collection also featured a rare uncut copy of Livio Sanuto's 1588 atlas of Africa that doubled its estimate at $25,200, as well as a group of 19th and early 20th century material relating to Zanzibar that attracted intense competition, sending the lots soaring over expectations. (Read more about Esmond Bradley Martin below.)
Property of other owners was highlighted by a first edition of Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking scientific work, On the Origin of Species, 1859, which realized $94,500. This copy bore provenance of Charles Darwin's great-grandson Quentin Keynes, to the naturalist Richard Bayard Dominick, thence by descent to the consignor.
Robert Browning's first edition copy of John Keats’ poem, Endymion, 1818, sold for $37,800, many times its $7,000-10,000 estimate. The poem begins with the well-known verse, "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever."
The selection of livres des artistes featured François-Louis Schmied's Daphne in a major Art Deco binding by Pierre Legrain, 1924, one of 140 copies. The book tripled its $8,000-12,000 estimate, selling for $32,760.
Manuscripts in the sale were highlighted by a medieval manuscript on paper, Calculus temporum Ecclesiasticus, which sailed past its estimate of $3,000-5,000 to achieve an exceptional $31,500. This fascinating calendrical manuscript in Latin, circa 1360, possibly English in origin, was once the property of antiquary and collector Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872).
100 years before the Revolution: from Plymouth Colony to the Salem Witch Trials - The Victor Gulotta Collection, offered a curated collection of 17th and 18th century manuscripts documenting life in colonial New England. Among the rarities were a 1691 document signed by two notorious Salem witch trials magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin that realized $5,670, a document from 1686/87 signed by Edmund Andros as Governor of the Dominion of New England that sold for $5,670, and a 1656 Boston court document relating to a divorce case that achieved $6,300, all three exceeding their estimates.
Esmond Bradley Martin
Esmond Bradley Martin (1941-2018) was educated as a geographer and philosopher. He and his wife Chryssee had an enduring fascination with Africa, and settled in Nairobi, Kenya, in the mid-1970s. He wrote extensively, oftentimes in conjunction with his wife, publishing works including Zanzibar. Tradition and Revolution, Hamish Hamilton, 1978; Cargoes of the east. The ports, trade, and culture of the Arabian Seas and western Indian Ocean, Elm Tree Press, 1978; and many other works on African history and conservation. In the late 1970s, he began extensive research into the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, which included substantial stints incognito posing as a buyer of illicit wildlife products. For a while, he served as special envoy for rhino conservation for the United Nations. He continued this work until 2018 , when tragically he was stabbed to death in his Nairobi home
For about thirty years, beginning in the mid-1960s, Esmond Bradley Martin assiduously collected books and manuscripts on Africa and its history, acquiring a phenomenal collection of letters by many of the major English explorers of the nineteenth century, as well as numerous rarities from earlier centuries. He was buying at a time when troves of such material surfaced frequently at English auctions. Doyle was privileged to offer the first selection of his collection in the November 7 auction. A second and final portion will be offered early next year.
We Invite You to Auction!
Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.
For information, please contact Peter Costanzo at 212-427-4141, ext 248, or Edward Ripley-Duggan at ext. 234, or email Books@Doyle.com
