Non-fiction

The Wreck of the Amsterdam – Peter Marsden – First Edition 1974

The Dutch East Indiaman set out on her maiden voyage in 1748 loaded with cargo and silve7r, with three hundred people on board.

A storm in the English Channel forced the captain to beach her near Hastings after a near mutiny.

She’s still there and at the occasional low tide remnants can be seen from the shore. Peter Marsden was the Field archaeologist at the London Guildhall Museum and he was called in when a party of workmen with access to a digger tried their luck and found something rather special.

First edition published by Hutchinson, London in 1974. Octavo, 288 pages, heavily and well illustrated. A very good copy.

The Wreck of the Amsterdam; a long time afterwards fresh discoveries are made.

$30.00

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Port Arthur Railway Across Tasman Peninsula – Australia’s First Railway – Bayley

Published in the early 1970’s this is an interesting historical account of what was the first railway in Australia, albeit convict powered.

The author William Bayley self published a number of well researched historical documents. Octavo, 64 pages, illustrated heavily and well throughout. Fine copy.

Much about Booth and his plans, the Port Arthur settlement and discovery of coal on the other side of the peninsula. The need for the railway, its construction and the manpower. The visit of Trollope and other incidentals.

The first railway – no mean feat for anyone.

$25.00

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The Shot Tower [Hobart] and its Builder Joseph Moir – Richard Lord

A special local history item by Richard Lord who also authored the respected book on St David’s graveyard and the Isle of the Dead at Port Arthur.

More than a local history is the shot tower is the only stone and brick built circular shot tower in the Southern hemisphere.

Anyone coming to Hobart may not have a visit here on the agenda … after reading this thorough account I doubt you will neglect the tower.

First Printing 1980, self published, printed by Specialty Press, Hobart. Perfect bound, ninety-one pages, nicely illustrated mainly from historical photographs.

The builder of the shot tower Joseph Moir was an incredibly enterprising individual. Already successful in business. He went to England and came back with a shipload of hardware and set up the Economy House at 49 Murray Street. It did very well.

In the 1860’s his mind turned to making shot … a quite complex process fundamental to which is the action of gravity hence the tower. His careful planning led him to select the perfect site some seven miles form the centre of Hobart. The author goes through the considerations regarding the location, the structure, the outhouses for arsenic, powder etc and the incredible feat in erecting the tower in eight months with the help of only two stonemasons. The process for making shot was designed by William watts of Bristol in the 1700’s. A bit of experimentation was required at Hobart, but Moir eventually cracked the technique … which he guarded for year to come.

The Shot Tower – Tasmania’s finest industrial structure.

$25.00

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They Reigned Supreme [Steam Ships in Tasmania] – Thomas W. Fox

Self published second printing, scarce as hen’s teeth.

Red card wrappers, 50 pages plus advertisements, including one for Purdon & Featherstone Shipyard! Illustrated with a few images of steam boats.

Excellent account of the steam ships that used to ply the Derwent, Tamar and coastal routes in Tasmania. From the very beginning to the very end.

Lengthy list of vessels in alphabetic order with details regarding their construction, when and where they were put to use and by whom. Often ending in a mishap.

After the boats comes a chapter on the famous O’May family who for three generations were at the heart of the Derwent ferry services. Then a brief section on boat builder and a most interesting account of River Steamer racing.

Super primary reference for anyone interested in the now gone steamer activity in Tasmania.

$50.00

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The Andes and the Amazon – Life and Travel in Peru – C. R. Enock – 1913

A scarce copy of this important travel exploration account into Peru.

Published by Fisher Unwin, London in 1913, a fifth printing, first in this form. Octavo, red cloth covered illustrated covers, xvi, 380 pages, portrait frontispiece. Slight foxing otherwise a very good copy. the pictorial covers are a delight

C Reginald Enock was a mining engineer turned adventurer. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society London, the World’s greatest Club. His adventures in Peru had previously been summarised and presented by none less than Markham in the Society Journals.

Enock explored a new high pass over the Eastern Cordillera; made the sources of the Maranon and Huaylas Rivers; visited the ruins of Huanuco and attempted the highest peak in Peru, Huascarn, at 22,000 feet.. although unsuccessful, it was not climbed until 1932 … by Austrians of course.

In his expeditions he mulled over the origins of the indigenous population and postulated links with Asia much in the lines but sometimes conflicting with the Alfred Russell Wallace viewpoint.

Enock and serious exploring in remote Peru …

$120.00

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Unpublished Work – “The Dream and the Reality” – Single Handed Transatlantic Yacht Race 1968 – Brian Cooke.

A unique item, the typescript account of Brian Cooke relating to his participation in the 1968 Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) east to west from Plymouth to Newport Rhode Island.

182 pages of foolscap, corrected in manuscript. Having read through it all … it is an exceptional account ready for the press … we are not sure why he did not follow through with the publication.

Cooke was very much an amateur before this event and he states clearly in his Preface that the book has been written “to indicate the way in which the dream of crossing the Ocean became a reality to me … what is involved for the ordinary person … to know first hand that it is quite a feasible proposition and a very worthwhile challenge …”.

We like the way the book proper starts … “It was 1949, when I was walking down St James’s Street, London one lunchtime. I looked in a Bookshop window. One of the books on display was by Allcard describing the Atlantic voyage he had made. It was the dust cover that took my eye. On it was a photograph of Allcard, at sea, sailing his yacht single-handed, looking up at his sails, which conveyed to me a most vivid picture of satisfaction and achievement”

The first sixty eight pages are taken up with establishing and preparing for the dream. First the yacht that had been commissioned to be built by an acquaintance with the wherewithal connected to his work at the Westminster Bank. The first trials, the personal training, the qualifying voyages etc all very interesting. At page sixty nine we have the race start proper. What follows is a very detailed account of the events of the race, nothing tedious in our view. Cooke came in sixth, out of 48, many had to turn back. Those ahead were either trimarans or larger boats, on any handicap system he may have won.

The appendices are good for perspective and emphasise his comments in the Preface that preparation is key. We have the “sailing instructions” from the Royal Western, Plymouth. The list of yachts by nation, rig, length, hull, and rating where available. Daily records of sailing achievements and sail changes. Provisions of all sorts … we are amused to see Mars Bars, Steak and kidney puddings, HP sauce etc.

Yachting treasure unpublished major single-handed yacht race

$380.00

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The Wreck of the Amsterdam – Peter Marsden – First Edition 1974

Port Arthur Railway Across Tasman Peninsula – Australia’s First Railway – Bayley

The Shot Tower [Hobart] and its Builder Joseph Moir – Richard Lord

They Reigned Supreme [Steam Ships in Tasmania] – Thomas W. Fox

The Andes and the Amazon – Life and Travel in Peru – C. R. Enock – 1913

Unpublished Work – “The Dream and the Reality” – Single Handed Transatlantic Yacht Race 1968 – Brian Cooke.

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