[Rarebooks] fa: HENRY SALT - VOYAGE TO ABYSSINIA 1814 - Large Folding Maps/Plates (ExLibris FRANCES CURRER)

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auctions ending Sunday, November 18. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/bclw24r

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


Henry Salt:: A Voyage to Abyssinia, and Travels into the Interior of that Country, Executed under the Orders of the British Government, in the years 1809 and 1810; In which are included An Account of the Portuguese Settlements on the East Coast of Africa, visited in the Course of the Voyage; A Concise Narrative of Late Events in Arabia Felix; and Some Particulars respecting the Aboriginal African Tribes, extending from Mosambique to the Borders of Egypt; together with Vocabularies of their Respective Languages. Illustrated with a Map of Abyssinia, Numerous Engravings and Charts. London: Printed for F.C. and J. Rivington, 1814. FIRST EDITION. Large, heavy 4to (31.5 x 24.5 cm) in full nineteenth-century polished calf, marbled endpapers, new gilt-lettered spine label; 2 p.l., [vii]-xi, [7], [3]-506, lxxv, [1] p.; 36 engraved plates, including 2 half-page vignettes, folding maps, plans, views, etc.

Salt's important and handsomely produced account of his mission to explore Ethiopia, establish trade and diplomatic links with its king, and cultivate relations with the tribes along the Red Sea coast. He formed an especially strong bond with the warlike Ras of Tigre, whom he delighted with a display of fireworks. After Salt returned to England he received an affectionate letter from the Ras: "How art thou, Hinorai Sawelt? Peace be to thee, and may the peace of the Lord be with thee! Above all things, how art thou, my friend Hinorai Sawelt?" Henry Salt (1780-1827), a trained artist as well as a diplomat, was shortly afterwards (1815) appointed consul-general in Cairo and became one of the era's leading Egyptologists, forming a vast collection of antiquities and taking a more than respectable crack at deciphering the Rosetta Stone.

From the library of Frances Mary Richardson Currer, with her armorial bookplate on the front paste-down. Frances Currer (1785-1861) was a wealthy heiress and one of the first women book collectors of note, described by Thomas Frognall Dibdin as being "at the head of all female collectors in Europe." Her famous library at Eshton Hall, Yorkshire, estimated at between fifteen to twenty thousand volumes, was the subject of two privately printed catalogues during her lifetime and was enthusiastically described by Dibdin in both his Reminiscences of a Literary Life, which features an engraved plate of the library, and Bibliographical Tour, which he dedicated to Miss Currer, “England’s earliest female bibliophile." Contrary to her wishes, the principal part of her library was sold after her death by Sotheby's in 1862. "Miss Currer's library was chosen with a view to practical usefulness, but it contained many rarities. It was rich in natural science, topography, antiquities, and history… The books contain an heraldic book-plate, and are generally noticeable for their fine condition" (DNB). Of additional interest is Miss Currer's association with the Brontës of nearby Haworth. Rich, unmarried and with “a heart as big as St. Paul’s dome and as warm as volcanic lava” (Dibdin again), she was a generous patron and supporter of local causes and charities, including the lugubrious Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge attended by the Brontë sisters, which was the model for Lowood School in Charlotte's Jane Eyre. It's probable that Miss Currer was the "wealthy lady in the West Riding of Yorkshire" who gave the struggling Rev. Patrick Brontë £50 in 1821, and she is the most likely candidate to have inspired the surname of Charlotte's nom de plume, Currer Bell. Additionally, the character of Mr. Eshton in Jane Eyre most likely derives his name from Miss Currer's stately home, famous throughout the West Riding and beyond. Several sources even suggest that Charlotte visited Miss Bell and her library on occasion, in which case she might have cast her eyes on this very book…

With five large folding maps, one extra-large (75 x 59 cm) and hand-colored. Bound without one plate (the harbour of Massowa), otherwise complete; the plates in very good or better condition, very crisp and clean, folding charts with just a bit of toning at the creases, extra-large map with some offsetting and a short tear to the margin. Binding with bumping and wear to the corners, sunning/darkening and wear to the spine, joints and hinges professionally repaired; age-toning to a few leaves, occasional scattered small spots; otherwise clean and sound, firmly bound. A handsome copy with an impressive and intriguing provenance.