Catalogues

Picture Book 13

Picture Book 13

Picture Book 13 contains highlights from our selection of stock for the forthcoming Melbourne Rare Book Fair (30 July–1 August).

An item of global scientific importance is James Clerk Maxwell's A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism (two volumes, second edition, 1881). It is the personal working set of Sir Joseph John Thomson (Nobel Prize winner and discoverer of the electron), with extensive annotations in his hand made while editing the third edition of Maxwell's important treatise. Later provenance includes his son, Sir George Paget Thomson, also a Nobel Prize-winning physicist.

We are also offering, as one lot, eighteen original 1840s watercolours (many of them unpublished) by George French Angas of Rio de Janeiro and the peoples of Southern Africa. The Brazilian views show Rio before the campaign of urban renewal which saw much of the historic colonial centre demolished and the city's hills levelled. The African pictures include striking depictions of individuals from various ethnic groups of southern Africa.

Or if a little light reading is more to your taste, we have a dozen of the finest copies extant of first editions of the earliest works of P.G. Wodehouse; a near-complete run of 50 issues of Virgil Reilly’s comic book series, The Adventures of Silver Flash and his Frog-men (1950-55); and a copy of the deluxe leather-bound issue of the first edition of Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) to whet your appetite.

Also well-represented are vintage photographs, autographs and manuscripts, maps, military history and travel. If you can’t make it to Wilson Hall for the fair, you can at least enjoy this preview from your armchair.

Catalogue 91

Catalogue 91

An undoubted highlight (and definitely the heavyweight offering!) in our current catalogue is the complete set of six volumes of Forshaw and Cooper's acclaimed series, Kingfishers and Related Birds (1983-1994).

First-hand accounts of voyages and expeditions include the first collected edition of Sydney Parry's Arctic voyages (three volumes, 1828-29), and Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands by François Péron, continued by Louis de Freycinet (three volumes, 2003-2008), the first full edition in English of the official account of the 1800-03 French voyage of exploration to Australia under the command of Nicolas Baudin. We have one of the deluxe edition of only 99 sets of the text volumes and 150 copies of the atlas, in the total edition of only 400 sets.

David Lindsay's Expedition across Australia from South to North, between the Telegraph Line and the Queensland Boundary, in 1885-6 (1889), and A.C. Gregory’s Journal of the North Australian Exploring Expedition (1858) both contain large folding colour maps.

A range of individual antiquarian maps are also available, including Magini's Universi Orbis Descriptio ad usum Navigantium (1598), and Lodge's A New and Accurate Chart of the Discoveries of Capn. Cook and other later Circumnavigators (circa 1797).

The first edition in English of The Plague by Albert Camus (1948), a proof copy of Colin Wilson's Ritual in the Dark (1959), and signed copies of over two dozen works by J.M. Coetzee, including proof copies and other rarities, are some of the many other items of genuine interest.

Catalogue 90

Catalogue 90

Unusual maps are some of the highlights of our latest catalogue: MacDonald Gill’s eye-catching poster maps of Australia and New Zealand issued during the Second World War are one thing; John Arrowsmith’s The District of Adelaide, South Australia from 1840, is something else again!

Signed items are in abundance, including an autograph letter signed by Edmund Dulac; two small signed drawings by Clifton Pugh; books signed by J.M. Coetzee, Nancy Cunard and Leon Carmen (aka Wanda Koolmatrie); signed photographs of Admiral Edward Evans, Dame Nancy Buttfield and Pelé; and autographs of Jørn Utzon and Gough Whitlam.

Accounts of voyages include Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes by Charles de Brosses (two volumes, 1756); and Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands by François Péron, continued by Louis de Freycinet (three volumes, 2003-2008). This is one of only 400 sets of the first full edition in English of the official account of the 1800-03 French voyage of exploration to Australia under the command of Nicolas Baudin.

Catalogue 89

Catalogue 89

The year is no longer new, we are no longer in holiday mode, and our latest catalogue is on its way. Eclectic is the word!

Some of the highlights are Macdonald Gill’s poster map commemorating the Atlantic Charter; a signed copy of the thesis Terence Tao submitted for his Degree of Master of Science in August 1992 (a month after his seventeenth birthday); and Sir Isaac Newton’s Universal Arithmetick, or, a Treatise of Arithmetical Composition and Resolution (1728 ‘Second Edition, very much Corrected’).

Other items include a complete set of The Folio Society edition of Patrick O’Brian’s acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series; Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, par Monsieur Bayle (1697, first edition, four volumes); Gifford Chapman’s Wooden Fishing Boats … off Kangaroo Island (1998); and two superb portrait photographs of Dame Roma Mitchell (1913-2000) in court dress, taken on the occasion of her appointment as Queen's Counsel in 1962.

Catalogue 88

Catalogue 88

Season’s greetings! Our last catalogue for the year hopefully contains some stocking fillers, but it certainly has some items to help you fill your bookshelves. Multi-volume sets include The Collected Works of Sir Winston Churchill. Centenary Limited Edition (34 volumes, 1973-76); The Royal Magazine (43 volumes, 1898-1920, with very early Wodehouse content); The Oxford English Dictionary (20 volumes, second edition, 2004); and A Survey of Persian Art (16 volumes, third edition, 1977).

Other areas of interest include antique rugs, tribal art, ethnography, travel, photography (stereographs of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars, among others), militaria, literature, antiquarian books ...

The last item in the catalogue is a superb snakeskin-bound album containing over 200 original photographs by Léopoldville-based Casimir Zagourski, from his 'L'Afrique qui disparaît!' series, from the 1930s.

Photography from the Collection of Joyce Evans OAM

Photography from the Collection of Joyce Evans OAM

Our current auction consists primarily of original photographs (many signed) and photogravures, monographs and illustrated books (again, many signed), and numerous nineteenth century photograph albums (comprising wide-ranging Australian material, world travel, and private compilations).

All items come from the collection of Melbourne photographer and pioneering gallerist Joyce Evans OAM (1929-2019).

Signed photographs include works by André Kertész (nine, including Melancholic Tulip, 1939), Roman Vishniac (four), and Minor White (six). Camera Work, Numbers 1 and 2 (1903) bound as one volume, is complete with all photogravures (including The Hand of Man, signed in pencil by Alfred Stieglitz); Camera Work Number 30 (1910) is his signed presentation copy to George Bernard Shaw; and numerous photogravures from Camera Work include prints by Alfred Stieglitz, Baron Adolf de Meyer and Alvin Langdon Coburn.

There are more than 40 nineteenth century albums. Highlights include the Album by W. Blackwood of Sydney Banks (1859) and S.A. Legislative Council, 1868, Townsend Duryea's impressive (and exceedingly rare) album of large-format portrait photographs of all eighteen sitting members of the South Australian upper house.

Signed books include works by Ansel Adams, Max Dupain, Sam Haskins, Bill Henson, J.W. Lindt, Tim Page and James Wedge.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This is an online-only timed auction hosted by Invaluable.com. There will be no in-room bidding for this sale.

Lots will begin to close starting at 2 pm (ACDT) on Friday 12 December 2025.

Buyer's premium: 20%

Online bidding fee: as set by Invaluable.com, usually 5%. You will be shown the exact amount when confirming your bid.

Click on each lot to see a full description and additional images.

All items are available for viewing at our North Terrace premises. However, for the majority of you who are not Adelaideans and for whom personal inspection is not an option, all items are accurately described and photographed, and are covered by our conditional guarantee.

Please ensure you have read the Conditions of Sale in the ‘Terms’ section at the foot of any lot description.

If you have any questions, please contact us on (+61) 08 8223 1111 or at treloars@treloars.com

View and bid on Invaluable.com

Catalogue 87

Catalogue 87

Our latest catalogue contains numerous rare and fascinating items (not to overlook the many interesting and collectible ones too!). Militaria is well represented: there are signed letters from Montgomery of Alamein and Alexander of Tunis in a small archive relating to the WW2 service of two SA brothers, Fred and Percy Cockington (Percy was KIA in 1942); over 100 issues of the Special Siege Edition and Special Siege Slips of The Mafeking Mail (1899-1900); Souvenir of Sinai & Palestine. Compiled by Tpr. J. Ellis, 7th L.H. (an album of 96 original photographs of strong military interest); Shadbolt's Afghan Campaign of 1878-1880 (1882, two volumes), with 140 Woodburytype portraits of soldiers who lost their lives; and 132 Boer War stereographs.

Other important photographic items include Pictures from the Tyng Collection (1931), featuring a photogravure of the famous 'Bewegungs Studie [Study of Movement]' by Rudolf Koppitz; and 96 stereographs of famous disasters (from the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée to the Messina earthquake of 1908).

Numerous maps include Stanford's Library Map of Australasia (circa 1862, an uncut example, a mammoth 1455 x 1600 mm), and Smith’s New General Atlas (1809), containing 43 engraved maps with original hand-colouring.

A collection of material relating to John McDouall Stuart includes an unrecorded manuscript journal of the first seven weeks of his second exploring expedition (March-May 1859); an apparently unrecorded carte de visite portrait photograph of him; and The Book of Common Prayer (1860) with his signed presentation inscription.

Other signed books include works by or about Pelé, Ion Idriess, Charles Bean, Wing Commander 'Bobby' Gibbes, Professor Terence Tao (his 1992 MSc thesis), and artists Norman Lindsay, Justin O’Brien, Brian Dunlop and John Olsen (the last two with original artwork).

Catalogue 86

Catalogue 86

An undoubted highlight of our latest catalogue is the extensive archive of Second Lieutenant Edward Watson Powell (service number 187, a veteran of Gallipoli and the Western Front, before training as a pilot and being commissioned as an officer in the Royal Flying Corps in March 1917). He was reported missing in action over Belgium in October that year. The archive contains over 520 items, mainly letters, postcards, and photographs.

Another significant offering is the substantial retained duplicate typescript dossier of depositions and interrogations compiled by an officer in the Australian War Crimes Section in Tokyo in 1949 and 1950.

Botany and horticulture are a strong feature: McEwin’s The South Australian Vigneron and Gardeners’ Manual (1871), Stones and Curtis’ The Endemic Flora of Tasmania (1967-78), Jessop and Toelken’s Flora of South Australia (1986), Wheeler’s Flora of the Kimberley Region (1992), Chinnock’s Eremophila and Allied Genera (2007), and facsimile editions of the Herefordshire Pomona, Fitzgerald’s Australian Orchids, and Hooker’s volumes on the botany of the Antarctic voyage of Erebus and Terror are just some of the titles.

There are numerous books on Papua New Guinea and the occult, as well as nineteenth century South Australia Parliamentary Papers (including many relating to George Woodroffe Goyder).

And as ever, we can’t resist a good photograph, autograph, or map ...