Prints and Drawings in the British Museum , 1873, vol. II, 1642; Hargrave, History of Playing Cards , pp. 164–6; Mann, Collecting Playing Cards , p. 157; Jeroen Salman, “Playing Games with the Financial Crisis of 1720”, in The Great Mirror of Folly. Finance, Culture, and the Crash of 1720, 2013. £3,250 [152731] 166 SYKES, Percy. A History of Afghanistan. First edition, presentation copy to Leo Amery, Secretary of State for India in Churchill’s government, with a note on Sykes’s letterhead mounted on the front pastedown of volume I: “To the Rt. Hon. L. S. Amery, With much regard, from the Author, December 1944”; with Amery’s pencilled signature on front free endpaper of volume II. During the 1930s Amery (1872–1955) “was sufficiently pragmatic to acknowledge that dominion self-government would ultimately come to India, placing strain on the ‘frontier empire’ from the Middle East to Afghanistan” ( ODNB ). Sykes’s history aimed to create the “first complete history of Afghanistan” (preface). It is uncommon, as apparently the greater part of the print run was burnt on the night of 29 December 1940 when Paternoster Row was destroyed in the Blitz. His love and reverence of the region is evident throughout the work, for example describing his first crossing of the river Oxus as “an important event in my life”. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd, 1940 PRESENTATION COPY TO LEO AMERY 2 volumes, octavo. Original blue cloth, title gilt to spines, top edges blue. Frontispiece to each and 18 other plates, 8 folding maps, 2 of them coloured, one of these a large general area map in an end-pocket to volume II. Spines lightly sunned. A very good set, square and bright. ¶ Wilber 99 and asterisked as representing one of “those sources considered to be essential in gaining an overall understanding of the topic represented”. £1,500 [155045]
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variant titles, this with the title of April-Kaart , the second with the title Pasquin’s Windkaart . The two plates and their cards vary slightly in the images and greatly in their captions. Salman places the Windkaart as a “popularized version” of the April-Kaart , and consequently the second of the two versions: “I therefore take Pasquin’s Card to be an imitation of the April Card and to have been printed later. The captions of the April Card are more sophisticated, clever, and
highbrow, whereas the captions of Pasquin’s Card are often more straightforward and direct” (Salman, pp. 235–237). Both examples are found in the Tafereel . An example of a dissected set in the original card box is held in the British Museum. Copper engraved plate (534 × 448 mm), mounted on card. Presented in a black wooden frame with conservation acrylic glazing. Central crease where originally folded into book (see note), very slight chips at extremities affecting image of nine of Spades. In very good condition. ¶ Catalogue of the
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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