There exist books which seems to be very rare, however, are of a relative limited importance and thus have vanished in obscurity. That partly may explain why they are rare: little interest, either due to lack of knowledge of its existence by collectors or due to the fact that they are missing in many important institutional collections.
Below three examples of such books
1. Brown’s abridged Journal containing a brief Account of the Life, Trials and Travels of Geo. S. Brown, six Years a Missionary in Liberia, West Africa.
Author: Brown, Geo. S.
Year: 1849
Edition: First edition
Publisher: Troy; Press of Prescott & Wilson
Modern half calf over cloth, 8vo., 2 preliminary blanks, pp. iv, 5-328, 330-353, 353-392, 2 trailing blanks . The spine divided in six compartments by five raised bands with gilt titles in the second compartment. New endpapers. Occasionally some minor foxing, but generally a clean copy. The pages 329-352 misnumbered 330-353.
Brown was born on July 25, 1801 on Newport Island, Rhode Island and died on April 23, 1886. He attended Cazenovia Seminary and once he completed his theological education he sailed to Liberia in 1836, where he served as a missionary for six years.
Of the many 19th century missionary travelers in Africa who published books about their experiences in that continent this is one of the rarest with no auction records since 1975. George S. Brown is one of the very few black missionaries who published a book about his work there.
Biblio: Hess & Coger 6602.
2. Tableau historique de l’Inde, contenant un Abrégé de la Mithologie et des mœurs Indiennes, avec une description de leur Politique, de leur Religion, &c.
Author: Anquetil-Duperron, Abraham Hyacinthe
Year: 1771
Edition: First edition
Publisher: Bouillon; La Société Typographique
Old paper covered boards, 12mo, pp. 269, 3. Some damp stains at the first few leaves. A stamp of St. Thomas College, Venlo on first blank, on the reverse of the half title page, the title page and the first text page. Another stamp of the library of Mariënhage, Eindhoven on the reverse of the title page and on the lower margin of page 151. A paper label on the spine with the shelf nr. of St. Thomas College.
Illustrated with 3 plates of which one a folding plate. An extremely rare book on India and its population, covering many aspects of the Indian cultures and religions.
As the book was published anonymously, its authorship sometimes is attributed to Pierre Poivre. Though he visited India shortly at the end of the 1740’s he did not study the Indian languages, nor was he strongly interested in Indian manuscripts.
Hence, it generally is accepted that Abraham Anquetil-Duperron, who spent the greater part of the 1750’s in India and had a keen interest in Oriental languages and history, is the author.
Apart from the preliminary leaves with some damp staining and several stamps the rest of the book is fresh and clean.
An extremely rare book.
Acquired from Van de Wiele Auctions, their sale of 10 October 2020, lot nr. 911.
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3. Découvertes dans la Mer du Sud. Nouvelles de M. De La Peyrouse, Jusqu’en 1794. Traces de son passage trouvées en diverses isles et terres de l’Océan Pacifique; grande Isle peuplée d’émigrés français.
Author: Anonymous
Year: 1798
Edition: 1st
Publisher: Paris, Éverat
(n.d. but 1798), 8vo, pp. 397, i (errata), contemporary half calf with morocco gilt label. Complete with half title. Ex Bibliotheca Didina et Pinguina
Lacks last free endpaper. Slight occasional foxing/browning, last page slightly soiled. Covers rubbed. Stain plus a hole in the bottom margin of page 373, not affecting the text. Written name on titlepage.
Ferguson 225: “A fictitious account. The greater portion is devoted to the description of a supposed island in the South Seas, inhabited by a community of refugees who had escaped the horrors of the French Revolution, and had established a republic there on socialist principles.”
First edition of this rare book with a fictitious account of the fate of the La Perouse expedition after they left Botany Bay.
Published anonymously.
The Parsons Collection, part II, nr. 220 (Hordern House Rare Books, Sydney, 2006):
“Doubt about the publication of this rare book (Ferguson, Sabin and Kroepelien say 1795, while Gove and the Library of Congress catalog say 1798) has finally been resolved by David Forbes’ discovery of a contemporary advertisement confirming the later date.”
Biblio: Ferguson 225, Kroepelin 283, Sabin 38958.
Acquired from Bubb Kuyper; their sale nr. 41, November 2004, lot nr. 1582.
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