Lot 87
Orkney and Shetland
Collection of works, 17th-20th century
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
Wallace, James. A Description of the Isles of Orkney. Edinburgh: printed by John Reid, 1693. First edition, 8vo (13.7 x 7.3cm), 19th-century quarter calf binding by Kerr and Richardson of Glasgow, lacking 2 of the 3 folded leaves of plates, cropped with slight loss of text on right margin, staining on initial leaves [ESTC R21713, Wing (2nd ed.) W492];
Wallace, James. An Account of the Islands of Orkney. London: printed for Jacob Tonson, 1700. [Second edition], 8vo (19.2 x 11.6cm), contemporary sprinkled calf panel binding, rebacked, 2 folded leaves of plates (repaired with Japanese paper backing), lacking pp. 177-8 (supplied by photocopies mounted to blank leaf, first published in 1690 as ‘A Description of the Isles of Orkney’ [ESTC R34706, Wing (2nd ed.) W491];
Edmonston, Arthur. A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands. Edinburgh: printed by James Ballantyne for Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, 1809. First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo (21 x 12.2cm), modern half calf with brown buckram boards, gilt and blind tooling on spines with raised bands, 1 map, occasional spotting;
[Shetland]. A Walk in Shetland by Two Eccentrics. Edinburgh: published by Stillies Brothers, 1831. Second edition, 8vo (18.7 x 10.6cm), modern half calf with gilt tooling on spine, 19th-century ownership inscriptions of John Mackie and John Alexander, writer Aberdeen 1837, occasional spotting;
[Groat, Alexander G.]. Thoughts on Orkney and Zetland, their Antiquities and Capabilities of Improvement. Edinburgh: Printed by Neill & Co., 1831. First edition, 8vo (21.5 x 12.3cm), contemporary half calf, spine lettered in gilt, on title page “'not printed for sale';
[Hunter, Robert]. A Collection of the Principal Memorials and Petitions Respecting the Zetland Case and Interests in the Scotch Reform Bills. [London: printed for Vacher and son], 1831. First edition, 8vo (21 x 13cm), disbound, leaves loose, signed by Robert Hunter on behalf of the proprietors, leaseholders, and inhabitants of Zetland;
Dunn, Robert. The Ornithologist's Guide to the Islands of Orkney and Shetland. London: printed by Richard Taylor, 1837. First edition, 8vo (19.8 x 11.5cm), later green buckram binding rebacked, 2 folded maps and 1 frontispiece lithographed plate (bound after title page and half-title) by C. Hullmandel;
Murray, J.A.H. A Week Among the Antiquities of Orkney. Hawick: J. Haining & Co., 1861. First edition, 8vo, modern quarter calf, spine lettered in gilt;
Rampini, Charles. Shetland and the Shetlanders: two lectures delivered before the Philosophical Institution, Edinburgh, on the 5th and 8th February 1884. Kirkwall: William Peace & Son, 1884. First edition, 8vo, original printed paper boards, joint of upper boards cracking, some staining and loss of paper covering of spine;
[Orkney Natural History Society]. Orcadian Papers: Being Selections from the Proceedings of the Orkney Natural History Society, from 1887 to 1904. Stromness: printed for the Society by William Rendall, 1905. First edition, 8vo, later red buckram with gilt lettering, 6 plates;
Mooney, John. Eynhallow: the Holy Island of the Orkneys. Kirkwall: W.R. MacIntosh, 1923. First edition, 8vo, original publisher's blue cloth, 1 folded plate, minor staining to boards, head and tail of spine worn;
[Goudie Collection]. Catalogue of Books, etc. Presented by the Town Council of Lerwick to Zetland Education Committee … May, 1950. [S.l.: s.n, 1950]. Folio, unbound, xerox copy of typescript collection of the Goudie collection of works relating mainly to Orkney and Shetland, unbound;
Holbourn, Ian S. Wind and Wave. [Lerwick: The Shetland Times, 1967]. First edition, 8vo, original blue cloth with silver design on upper board;
and 22 others (36)
Footnote
A Walk in Shetland by Two Eccentrics, 1831, is rare (NLS only copy on JISC Library Hub), only one copy recorded for sale at auction in the last 50 years. A Week Among the Antiquities of Orkney, 1861, rare (4 copies listed on JISC Library Hub)