BOOKS
301 ABBE DE CHOISY Journal du Voyage de Siam . . 2230 . Paris: Chez Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1687. 8vo (243 175 mm), modern calf preserving original gilt title in second of six compartments on spine, remaining compartments are adorned with gilt repeated fleuron, bookplate, slightly aged pages with some light foxing.
Abbe de Choisy along with Chevalier de Chaumont were sent by King Louis XVI as representatives of France to the Kingdom of Siam under the reign of King Narai the Great. This rare volume is a detailed journal, written in the forms of correspondence letters, of Choisy’s observations including countless details of daily life in Siam during his stay as a missionary in during 1685-1686.
Cordier 491 Satow 60
THB 120,000 US$ 3,000
302 ARNOLD WRIGHT (Editor) Twentieth Century Impressions of Siam $ % . 2451 . London, Bangkok, Shanghai, (etc.): Unwin Brothers Limited, The Gresham Press for Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company Ltd., 1908. 4to (303 x 230 mm), contemporary dark blue morocco preserving original gilt titles on decorated spine, extremities slightly chipped, gilt edges on pages, frontispiece map of Siam, double-page portrait of King Chulalongkorn and Queen Sawangwattana with gilt borders, numerous illustration many of which are full-page.
A lavishly produced and illustrated work covering every aspect of life in Siam during the turn of the last century.
Provenance: Bournemouth Public Libraries
FIRST EDITION
THB 60,000 US$ 1,500
303 CHARLES BOCK ) * * . 2432 . Tours: Alfred Mame et Fils, 1889. 4to (273 x 185 mm). Original wrappers, frontispiece of King Chulalogkorn in ceremonial grab carried aloft, numerous woodcut designs in the text, illustrated but not including the color lithographed plates that were featured in several 1884 versions when first published, small tear at upper-left corner of wrapper and first two leaves at head of spine, untrimmed pages.
The white elephant, the exceptionally rare albino form of the animal, was for centuries considered a priceless treasure in Southeast Asia and reserved for the possession of kings and princes. It wasn't really white, but rather had creamy or often reddish-brown skin, with pink and yellow eyes, white patches at the edge of the ears and at the top of the trunk, white toe-nails, and red hair. The white elephant was thought to provide a resting place for Buddha's soul on the long road which led from renunciation of the world to enlightenment. Bock here recounts the story of the capture of a white elephant in Thailand in 1658. His journey to northern Thailand and Laos had the support of King Chulalongkorn, to whom the book is dedicated. Most of the material that Bock collected and described in this book are now London museums, but a few items, including some bronze statues, are kept in the Ethnographic Museum in Oslo.
FIRST FRENCH EDITION
Cordier 904
THB 15,000 US$ 380
304 DAN BEACH BRADLEY, Rev. Dr. (Compiler) Bangkok Calendar +, . 2432-2415 printed in Bangkok at the Press of the American Missionary Association: 1863, 1866, 1870-1872, 8vo (between 203 x 148). Five volumes with one folding lithographic (partial) map, five folding letterpress tables. A representative selection from this rare work by Bradley was first published in his annual work from 1859 and continued until his death in 1873.
Dan Bradley was known to Thai’s as ‘ ’ which literally translates to Dr. Bradley. He served as a Christian missionary to Siam during the reign of Rama III (King Phranangklao) until the reign of Rama V (King Chulalongkorn), a total 38 years spanning from 1835 to 1873 and is considered as Siam’s pioneer of modern medicine with the introduction of inoculation and vaccination. Bradley is credited for establishing the first newspaper in Siam along with inventing and casting the Siamese type face for printing as well as introducing the printing press, bookbinding, and lithography into Siam. He was also involved in negotiations when France forced Siam out of Cambodia. Bradley’s impression of Siam was popularized by the Broadway musical , which were based on experiences of Anna Leonowens, the tutor employed by Rama IV (King Mongkut).
Cordier 784
THB 180,000 US$ 4,500
305 ERIK SEIDENFADEN, Maj. ) . * % . 2470 . Bangkok: Bangkok Times Press for the Royal State Railway Department of Siam, 1927. Small 8vo (173 x 120 mm), original green decorated cloth gilt, coloured frontispiece of , 2 plates, folding maps (coloured map of Bangkok in fine state tipped in at end), numerous uncoloured illustrations, , (faded spine, minute bumps on head of spine and diminutive tear in cloth at foot of spine..
FIRST EDITION
THB 6,000 US$ 150
306 ETIENNE AYMONIER, Lieutenant d’infanterie de marine 012 345 -34) 6+6572 2 ).24 ) . , . 2417 . Siagon: Smprimerie Nationale, 1874. 4to (264 x 210 mm). Original green marbled boards, gilt titles with the initials “E.A.” on black morocco spine, preface in facsimile script by mechanical technique (experimental at the time of this publishing), terms are printed in Romanized and Khmer script (slightly rubbed extremities).
EXTREMELY RARE FIRST EDITION: according to the World Catalogue List of Records (OCLC), there is only one copy located of this original version from the cumulative listings of over 5,000 libraries in North America and select European locations as maintained by the Library of Congress.
Cordier 2749
THB 30,000 US$ 750
307 FAVELL LEE MORTIMER Far Off ) . 2418