Shapero Rare Books has now released their catalogue of Travel 2025 Part 2. Part 1  was published in March. I don't think there are many places on Earth they have missed, but for clarity, the travels are broken-down into regions: Greece, the Ottoman World & Central Asia, Arabia & Mesopotamia, India & East Asia, Antarctic, and Arctic, America, Australia & Voyages. These travelers were mostly going by boat or on foot, though a few, like Charles Lindbergh, took a plane, though not a fast one. Here are a few selections for your adventures.

 

We begin with one of the earliest European travelers. His name was John Mandeville, who dated his journeys to 1322-1356. He started in the Near East but then moved afar, to Arabia, Persia, India and China. He came back with fantastic tales of what he saw, the farther east the stranger they appeared to westerners. Starting in the 14^th century, numerous manuscripts were written of his journeys, which only expanded with the advent of printing. It all would have been even more fantastic if only it were real. There was no John Mandeville. He was the creation of someone still unknown. The areas somewhat realistically described are those closest to home, the Holy Land and the Near East. More was known to Europeans about those places in the 14^th century. Perhaps the author visited them. Farther than that, little was known, so the writer just made it all up. With no one having the knowledge to contradict, he felt free to invent whatever incredible tales he wished. About all Europeans had were the earlier travels of Marco Polo but Mandeville seemed more current and believable. The result was Mandeville was the most well-read travel writer of his day and those of early printing, though none of it was real. Item 93 is Tractato dele piu maravigliose... from Venice in 1505, by Sir John Mandeville (“Sir” because he was supposedly a knight). Priced at £18,500 (British pounds or approximately $24,650 in U.S. Dollars).

 

Threats of American naval power forced isolationist Japan to open its doors to other nations in 1853. The purpose was to force Japan to open its doors to American trade, but other countries quickly took advantage of the opportunity. Sir John Rutherford Alcock went to Japan in 1858 as Britain's first Consul-General after the conclusion of a treaty with Japan. However, the fact that Japan had officially opened its country did not mean foreigners were welcome. Several were murdered on the streets of Tokyo and militants attacked the British embassy in 1861, killing the gatekeeper and entering the embassy, finally warded off by the diplomatic staff. Alcock wrote about his experiences in The Capital of the Tycoon, A Narrative of a Three Years' Residence in Japan, published in 1863. £1,250 (US $1,667).

 

Charles Lindbergh was America's greatest hero in 1927. His solo first crossing of the Atlantic by airplane was a spectacular event in America and around the world. The 33-hour flight took him through storms and ice along with sleepiness, which is why it was such a great accomplishment. There was no automatic pilot to assist him. Crowds came to see him. Time Magazine named him its first “Man of the Year.” At the height of his popularity, which continued for many years, he wrote this book, published in 1927. It has the shortest title you will find, WE. He considered his achievement a joint venture with Americans who supported his efforts, those from St. Louis in particular, where he prepared for his flight. Lindbergh's support would wane in the years ahead. He expressed openly racist views in the late 1930s. He became a spokesman for the original “America First” movement, a pre-war isolationist movement with many Nazi supporters and anti-Semites among its membership. He engaged in a vehement war of words with President Franklin Roosevelt who believed support for Britain and Europe against the Nazis was essential for the survival of democracy and American ideals. The America First movement came crashing down, as did much of Lindbergh's reputation, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and much of the remainder of his life was a process of restoring that reputation. Item 117 is copy number 510 of 1,000 author's limited edition of WE. £3,950 (US $5,267).

 

This man's reputation needed no rehabilitation as he remains an admired figure one and one-half centuries after he died. He is the African missionary David Livingstone, a failure as a missionary but a success as an explorer and a moral beacon. He made several trips to Africa, spending much of his adult life on the continent. He started in South Africa but then worked his way farther and farther inland. He would return to Britain to raise funds and then go back to Africa to explore farther still. He only ever converted one person, hardly a success as a missionary, and he was dismissed from that role, but made numerous discoveries unknown to Europeans. The best known was that of Victoria Falls, and he devoted much of his time to his favorite moral cause – the abolition of the slave trade. He had always been an abolitionist, but what he saw of the slave trade in Africa made him despise the practice even more. Item 12 is a presentation copy of Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa; including a sketch of sixteen years residence in the interior of Africa, and a journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loanda on the West Coast; thence across the continent, down the River Zambesi, to the eastern ocean, published in 1857. This was from the end of his time as an official missionary, but he still had many African explorations ahead of him. Item 12. £10,000 (US $13,336).

 

Here is another enormously popular person whose reputation was somewhat tarnished though not on the level of Lindbergh's. Winston Churchill was certainly one of if not the most important person along with Roosevelt for saving the the West in World War II. Those two were the closest of allies, both before and after America's entry into the war. Certainly no one would ever claim Churchill was a Nazi sympathizer. However, his opinions on race were not quite so progressive. He saw whites, particularly English-speaking ones, as superior to those of darker skin shades. It was the paternal sort of racism rather than the hostile one. It was the “white man's burden” type which meant white people were supposed to help the less advanced races rather than oppress them. Item 80 is Churchill's India, Speeches and an Introduction, published in 1931. Churchill voiced his opposition to granting India Dominion status, which he believed would lead to demands for independence. He believed this would be bad of the Indian people, who would not form a functioning government, as well as for English power, which naturally was his bigger concern. Item 50. £2,750 (US $3,667).

 

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com