moor 1802 (1 Ergebnisse)

Accompanied by an index and six maps. Part first [all published]. Singapore : the author, 1837. Quarto (266 x 220 mm), finely bound in period style quarter straight-grained morocco over marbled papered boards, spine lettered in gilt; large hand-coloured folding map of 'The Town and environs of Singapore, drawn by J.B. Tassin, from an actual survey by G. D. Coleman', lithographed in Calcutta in 1836 (neatly split along one fold), pp [iv]; vii; [1]; 276; [1]; 117, five further folding maps lithographed by Tassin, all but one hand-coloured, (The Indian Archipelago; Coti River, Borneo; Malacca Territory; Chart of Singapore and Rhio Straits; Map of Prince of Wales Island and Province Wellesley), some with neatly sealed tears along the folds, all offset stained (as in other copies we have handled), occasional light foxing, but a fine, complete copy of a foundation work on Singapore, containing much also on Siam (Thailand), Sumatra and Java (Indonesia). In 1835 an announcement was made in theSingapore Chronicle that Moor would publish a grand work in two volumes, being a definitive history of Singapore and the region. The first volume (offered here) would consist of articles previously published in the Chronicle from 1824 - 1834, where Moor had served as an editor. There are no known surviving copies of theChroniclefor the years 1824 - 1826, and so the articles preserved in this volume would otherwise have been lost. The project was a financial disaster, the price of six Spanish dollars per copy (five for subscribers of the Singapore Free Press, where Moor was at the time sub-editor) failing to cover the cost of production. The maps were especially expensive to produce and had to be sent to Calcutta to be lithographed. As such, the second volume was never realised. There is offsetting to maps in all copies we have handled. See further: 'The Book that almost didn't happen' by Gracie Lee, published in Biblioasia, National Library Board of Singapore, Vol. 11, Issue 4, Jan - March 2016 Very rare, one of the earliest Singapore imprints, and with significant maps of the colony. Cordier, Indosinica, p. 734.