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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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Travel and Related Works from the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books - By Michael Stillman A summer catalogue. We recently received the Summer List 2011 from the combined collections of the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books of the Netherlands. The descriptive subtitle for this collection is Travel and Voyages, including Exploration, Maritime History, Navigation, Ships and Shipbuilding, VOC and WIC. For those unfamiliar with the initials, the VOC is the Dutch abbreviation for the Dutch East India Company; WIC the abbreviation for the Dutch West India Company. Though naturally many of these books were printed in the Dutch language, there is a large selection of works in other languages, notably English and French, and they cover regions all across the globe, as the empires of those two Dutch companies once did. These are a few selections from this summer, or perhaps end of summer, catalogue. Item 56 is the first account of what may have been the most important of all scientific voyages. It is a Sketch of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 1825-1836, by John Barrow. It was on their second voyage to South America that Charles Darwin served as naturalist on the Beagle. It would be his observations on this voyage that would lead to the publication of his theory of evolution, over two decades later. Darwin's account of what he discovered (minus his evolutionary interpretation) was first published in 1839, but Barrow's report (in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London) was released in 1836. Darwin is mentioned in relation to his views on earthquake shock waves. Barrow was a major figure in the British admiralty and Geographical Society, an important proponent of Arctic exploration. The northernmost point in the United States, Point Barrow, Alaska, is named for him. Priced at €1,500 (euros, or approximately $2,016 U.S. Dollars). Item 31 is Het leven en werken van John Williams, an 1860 Dutch adaptation by Maria Henriette Boeke of Ebenezer Prout's earlier biography of the English missionary. John Williams traveled to Polynesia in 1817 at the behest of the London Missionary Society, and stayed for 17 years, converting the natives of various small islands to Christianity. He was quite successful, and four years later, he returned from London to his island mission. This time things didn't go so well. On the island of Erromango (today part of Vanuatu), where he was unknown, he was killed and devoured by cannibals. Williams became a symbol of dedication to mission work and an inspiration for others to follow in his footsteps. While some of us might not be inspired to follow the footsteps of someone who was eaten by cannibals, this just shows how great was the devotion to their cause of 19th century missionaries. This story has a happy ending, to the extent such is possible. In 2009, Erromango islanders held a formal reconciliation ceremony and apologized to descendants of Williams who attended, including his great-great grandson. It seems Erromango islanders, now predominately Christian, have been feeling guilty about this for the past 170 years and have felt it put something of a curse over them. We don't know whether the parties shared dinner. €750 (US $1,008). Here is a quintessentially American work one might not expect to find in the Netherlands: Narrative of an Expedition through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, the Actual Source of this River… by Henry Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft was known both as an explorer and a geologist/ethnologist, particularly noted for his familiarity with the culture of certain Indian tribes. He had participated in the Cass Expedition of 1820, which concluded Cass Lake was the river's source. However, Schoolcraft would lead a second expedition in 1832, which would find a source for the Mississippi further upstream, Lake Itasca, which is now generally considered its starting point (although several small streams lead into this lake). This book also includes information about local Indians and appendixes covering natural history of the region and the Chippewa language. Item 161. €850 (US $1,146).
Travel and Related Works from the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books - By Michael Stillman Marie Anne Duboccage. Item 86 is an account by a most unusual Russian explorer, Vasilii Mikjailovich Golovnin. The title is Recollections of Japan, Comprising a Particular Account of the Religion, Language, Government, Laws and Manners of the People… If it seems surprising the first edition of this work should be in English, it can be explained by Golovnin having spent three years with the Royal Navy, sent there for training by the Tsar. Golovnin set sail for the Pacific from a Baltic Sea port in 1807. When he stopped near Cape Town, he discovered that relations between England and Russia had deteriorated, and the British held him indefinitely. Realizing release was probably not forthcoming, Golovnin was able to effect a daring escape. He made it on to the Pacific and Japan, where the same thing happened. The Japanese determined he had violated their space and held Golvnin prisoner. He remained there three years, during which time he learned much about Japanese culture and natural history. He first published a book about his captivity, but this later title, published in 1819, is focused on Japan and its culture. It includes a long introduction from an anonymous English author concerning that nation's future relations with Japan. €1,250 (US $1,684). Item 63 is an obscure epic poem about Columbus by the French author Marie Anne Duboccage. Does anyone write epic poems anymore? This format was once used regularly to provide detailed historical accounts, though often fictionalized, as is the case with Duboccage's epic work. The title is La Colombiade, ou la foi portee au Noveau Monde, published in 1756. Not quite up to reading an epic poem in French, I will rely on a description in a 1993 essay by Terence Martin. After explaining life in the Old World in great detail to the natives, in verse no less, Columbus is visited by an angel who predicts what will happen in the years ahead, or at least through 1756. He is told of all the great Renaissance figures who will appear, with an emphasis on the French ones. Much of this, in Mme Duboccage's view, is a result of the doors to knowledge opened by Columbus in his pioneering expedition. If such a prophetic angel visited Columbus, he never mentioned it in his letters, but perhaps if he had, people would have thought him crazy. €1,500 (US $2,016). The Antiquariaat Forum may be reached at +31 30 6011955 or info@forumrarebooks.com. Their website is www.forumrarebooks.com.

Travel and Related Works from the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books

- By Michael Stillman

A summer catalogue.

We recently received the Summer List 2011 from the combined collections of the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books of the Netherlands. The descriptive subtitle for this collection is Travel and Voyages, including Exploration, Maritime History, Navigation, Ships and Shipbuilding, VOC and WIC. For those unfamiliar with the initials, the VOC is the Dutch abbreviation for the Dutch East India Company; WIC the abbreviation for the Dutch West India Company. Though naturally many of these books were printed in the Dutch language, there is a large selection of works in other languages, notably English and French, and they cover regions all across the globe, as the empires of those two Dutch companies once did. These are a few selections from this summer, or perhaps end of summer, catalogue.

Item 56 is the first account of what may have been the most important of all scientific voyages. It is a Sketch of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 1825-1836, by John Barrow. It was on their second voyage to South America that Charles Darwin served as naturalist on the Beagle. It would be his observations on this voyage that would lead to the publication of his theory of evolution, over two decades later. Darwin's account of what he discovered (minus his evolutionary interpretation) was first published in 1839, but Barrow's report (in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London) was released in 1836. Darwin is mentioned in relation to his views on earthquake shock waves. Barrow was a major figure in the British admiralty and Geographical Society, an important proponent of Arctic exploration. The northernmost point in the United States, Point Barrow, Alaska, is named for him. Priced at €1,500 (euros, or approximately $2,016 U.S. Dollars).

Item 31 is Het leven en werken van John Williams, an 1860 Dutch adaptation by Maria Henriette Boeke of Ebenezer Prout's earlier biography of the English missionary. John Williams traveled to Polynesia in 1817 at the behest of the London Missionary Society, and stayed for 17 years, converting the natives of various small islands to Christianity. He was quite successful, and four years later, he returned from London to his island mission. This time things didn't go so well. On the island of Erromango (today part of Vanuatu), where he was unknown, he was killed and devoured by cannibals. Williams became a symbol of dedication to mission work and an inspiration for others to follow in his footsteps. While some of us might not be inspired to follow the footsteps of someone who was eaten by cannibals, this just shows how great was the devotion to their cause of 19th century missionaries. This story has a happy ending, to the extent such is possible. In 2009, Erromango islanders held a formal reconciliation ceremony and apologized to descendants of Williams who attended, including his great-great grandson. It seems Erromango islanders, now predominately Christian, have been feeling guilty about this for the past 170 years and have felt it put something of a curse over them. We don't know whether the parties shared dinner. €750 (US $1,008).

Here is a quintessentially American work one might not expect to find in the Netherlands: Narrative of an Expedition through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake, the Actual Source of this River… by Henry Schoolcraft. Schoolcraft was known both as an explorer and a geologist/ethnologist, particularly noted for his familiarity with the culture of certain Indian tribes. He had participated in the Cass Expedition of 1820, which concluded Cass Lake was the river's source. However, Schoolcraft would lead a second expedition in 1832, which would find a source for the Mississippi further upstream, Lake Itasca, which is now generally considered its starting point (although several small streams lead into this lake). This book also includes information about local Indians and appendixes covering natural history of the region and the Chippewa language. Item 161. €850 (US $1,146).

Travel and Related Works from the Antiquariaat Forum and Asher Rare Books

- By Michael Stillman

Marie Anne Duboccage.

Item 86 is an account by a most unusual Russian explorer, Vasilii Mikjailovich Golovnin. The title is Recollections of Japan, Comprising a Particular Account of the Religion, Language, Government, Laws and Manners of the People… If it seems surprising the first edition of this work should be in English, it can be explained by Golovnin having spent three years with the Royal Navy, sent there for training by the Tsar. Golovnin set sail for the Pacific from a Baltic Sea port in 1807. When he stopped near Cape Town, he discovered that relations between England and Russia had deteriorated, and the British held him indefinitely. Realizing release was probably not forthcoming, Golovnin was able to effect a daring escape. He made it on to the Pacific and Japan, where the same thing happened. The Japanese determined he had violated their space and held Golvnin prisoner. He remained there three years, during which time he learned much about Japanese culture and natural history. He first published a book about his captivity, but this later title, published in 1819, is focused on Japan and its culture. It includes a long introduction from an anonymous English author concerning that nation's future relations with Japan. €1,250 (US $1,684).

Item 63 is an obscure epic poem about Columbus by the French author Marie Anne Duboccage. Does anyone write epic poems anymore? This format was once used regularly to provide detailed historical accounts, though often fictionalized, as is the case with Duboccage's epic work. The title is La Colombiade, ou la foi portee au Noveau Monde, published in 1756. Not quite up to reading an epic poem in French, I will rely on a description in a 1993 essay by Terence Martin. After explaining life in the Old World in great detail to the natives, in verse no less, Columbus is visited by an angel who predicts what will happen in the years ahead, or at least through 1756. He is told of all the great Renaissance figures who will appear, with an emphasis on the French ones. Much of this, in Mme Duboccage's view, is a result of the doors to knowledge opened by Columbus in his pioneering expedition. If such a prophetic angel visited Columbus, he never mentioned it in his letters, but perhaps if he had, people would have thought him crazy. €1,500 (US $2,016).

The Antiquariaat Forum may be reached at +31 30 6011955 or info@forumrarebooks.com. Their website is www.forumrarebooks.com.