Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2007 Issue
Voyages, Views, Maps & Australiana from Hordern House
Captain Cook medal; Arthur Orton album.
Item 50 is an album containing 60 original photographs relating to the Arthur Orton trial. Orton was a notable imposter of the 19th century. An English butcher's son who had spent a few years in South America, he immigrated to Australia in 1852. He worked as a butcher and various other jobs and kind of disappeared for many years. In 1865, he learned through an advertisement that the mother of Roger Tichborne, heir to a baronetcy, was still looking for her son. He had disappeared off the South American coast in 1854 and was presumed drowned. Orton decided to stand in for Ticheborn and returned to England. Amazingly, he convinced his mother he was her long lost son, though he bore little resemblance to him. Mother and son must not have been that close. However, Orton did not convince other family members, including the brother who became the baron. Orton was put on the trial to which these photographs pertain. He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. When he was finally freed, Orton continued to press his claim and call himself Roger Tichborne, and while it got him publicity, he never collected an inheritance. The album includes photos of Orton as a young man, many at trial, Lady Tichborne, and other witnesses at trial. It is unknown who kept the album. AU $12,750. (US $10,022).
Item 7 isn't a book, but it is closely related to one of the most important voyages ever. It is a medal minted in 1784 by the London Royal Society in honor of Captain Cook's third voyage, the one from which he never returned. Members of the Royal Society were entitled to a bronze medallion, but for an up-charge they could order silver or gold. The probable minting quantities were 22 gold, 322 silver, and 577 bronze. The desirability of these medals is underscored by the fact that the aforementioned Bougainville, among others, wrote the Society to remind its authorities that they were members entitled to receive one. Offered is one of the silver medals, with Cook's portrait on the head. AU $8,250 (US $6,485).
You may visit Hordern House online at www.hordern.com, telephone (02) 9356 4411.
