British, French and Dutch Guiana
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Below is a list of my stock of old secondhand and antiquarian books on Guyana and Suriname, formerly made up of British Guiana and French Guiana, for sale.
On this page I list my stock of books on British Guiana, now Guyana, Dutch Guiana, now Suriname and French Guiana. There are some fine books on the Guianas, the works by Schomburgk and Stedman being the most well known.
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My books are now also listed on a second site where there is a shopping cart and a secure order form which you should find much easier to use as it includes a good search engine. The only downside is that there are no images. Please click here Pennymead Books
ANDRE E. A naturalist in the Guianas. Smith, Elder & Co., London. 1904. xiv + 310pp + plates and folding map. 1st ed., fine in orig. decorated red cloth, spine faded and front board with small stain. The author travelled from Trinidad up the Macareo River in Venezuela and then the Orinoco River to Ciudad Bolivar and beyond. Fine photo plates and including two fine chromo litho bird plates. £125
ANDRE E. A naturalist in the Guianas. Thomas Nelson & Sons. 1906 (circa). 382pp + plates, orig. cloth shaken. 12mo. Description of journey through Central America and Guiana. £7
BANCROFT E. An essay on the Natural History of Guiana. Arnos Press, New York. 1971. [v] + [v] + iv+ 402 + [vii] ppb & w frontis plate. Very fine in fine orig. decorated orig. cloth. Facsimile reprint of the 1769 ed. Bancroft settled in Guiana in 1763 after running away to sea from Westfield, Massachusetts. £24
BEEBE W. Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana with an introduction by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. New York Zoological Society. 1917. 504pp + 4 colour plates + frontispiece. 1st ed., very clean in orig. green pictorial cloth. Corners bumped without affecting pages. Attractive bookplate of 'Neil R. Foster.' ''Volume 1' on title page but the only volume published. Includes a chapter on Indian Charms by James Rodway. £65
BOUYER F. La Guyane Francaise. Notes et souvenirs d'un voyage execute en 1862-1863. Hachette, Paris. 1867. 316 large pp. 1st ed., very fine in orig. decorated red cloth with raised bands on spine, a.e.g. A detailed guide to Cayenne and French Guiana with many fine engraved views, some full plate, the natural history subjects by Rapine and Delahaye, the other subjects by Riou. £340
BERNAU Rev. J.H. Missionary Labours in British Guiana: with remarks on the manners, customs, and superstitious rites of the aborigines. London. 1847. xi + 242pp + [2] publisher's ads. + folding map and plates. 1st ed., occasional tone spot but mostly very clean in original blindstamped cloth. Very scarce.BERNAURE018297 £375
BRACEWELL S. Geological survey of British Guiana. 1934 reports. Daily Chronicle, Georgetown. 1944. 90pp + 2 coloured folding maps in rear pocket. 1st ed., filing notes on title page and cover otherwise clean in orig. card covers. £16
BRITISH GUIANA West India Colonies. An account of the extent and situation of the Crown Lands in the West India Colonies: So far as the said returns have been received. H.M.S.O. 1828. 13 large pp + folding map. 1st ed., clean in paper covers. Details of Crown Lands in many islands but with a fine engraved map of 'Sketch of the Cultivated and Occupied portions of the Colonies of Demerary and Essequibo' with hand coloured outline. 14 x 11" £60
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1900-1. H.M.S.O. 1902. 31pp. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. Reports on the economic state of the colony with much statistical information. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1904-5. H.M.S.O. 1905. 43pp. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1906-7. H.M.S.O. 1907. 35pp. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1907-8. H.M.S.O. 1908. 28pp + folding map. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1912-13. H.M.S.O. 1913. 28pp + folding map. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1914-15. H.M.S.O. 1916. 28pp + folding map. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1915. H.M.S.O. 1916. 24pp. 1st ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1919. H.M.S.O. 1921. 19pp. 1st ed., scarcer large paper ed., fine in paper covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report of the Lands and Mines Department for the year 1946. Daily Chronicle, Georgetown. 1947. 30pp + Appendices. 1st ed., folio. Filing notes on title page and cover otherwise clean in card covers. £18
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1952. H.M.S.O. 1954. 164pp + coloured folding map and photo plates. 1st ed., ex libre with label on inside cover and some h/s's otherwise clean in card covers. £8
BRITISH GUIANA Report for 1956. H.M.S.O. 1957. 223pp + coloured folding map and photo plates. 1st ed., ex libre some h/s's otherwise clean in card covers. £8
BRONKHURST Rev H.V.P. Among the Hindus and Creoles of British Guyana: containing a full account of the religious, moral, and social condition of the East Indian immigrants, who form the great bulk of the population; an account of the black and coloured population called 'Creoles' the relative position of these two races of people to each other; and summarized particulars from various sources of the Jubilee Celebration of the fiftieth year of freedom or emancipation, on Wednesday, August 1st, 1888, in the three counties of Demerara, Essequebo and Berbice, written in the interest of the people. London. 1888. xii + 307pp. 1st ed., ex 'Trinity College Methodist Library' with a few small oval h/s's otherwise clean in original pictorial cloth. A very scarce work.BRONKHUR018477 £320
BROWN C.B. Canoe and camp life in British Guiana. Edward Stanford. 1876. x + 400pp + 32pp publisher's catalogue + 10 col. lithos + folding map. 1st ed., 8vo, lacking front end paper and with light water stain to frontispiece, mostly in margin otherwise fine in original green cloth. Description of expedition through the interior with much on natural history and encounters with the native indians illustrated with fine colour litho prints.BROWNCB018763 £300
DABYDEEN D. Slave Song. Dangaroo Press. 1989. 72pp. Paperback. Fine. Poetry by the Guyanese author. £10
DEMERARA Views of Demerara and Neighbourhood. James Thomson, Argosy Office, Georgetown. 1890 (circa). 16pp of photographic plates. Originally folded in concertina fashion but now separated at folds and loose and with some slight chipping at edges in original slightly discoloured red cloth boards. 5.75 x 8" DEMERARA018628 £90
DICKINSON T. British Guiana Picture Postcards. B.W.I.S.C. 2005. [8] + 167 large pp. 1st ed., fine in pictorial card covers. 8.25 x 11.75" Illustrations of old Guiana postcards on most pages, all in full colour plus detailed catalogue listing all known cards arranged by publisher. Many fascinating views showing day to day life during colonial times in Georgetown, New Amsterdam and the surrounding estates and villages. £28
ELLIOT Cap. Views on Slavery Demerara. 1832. 7pp manuscript. Rather faded but just about legible. Captain Elliot was Protector of Slaves. His views on treatment of slaves are set down by an unknown writer.ELLIOTCA019224 £120
EVANS C. Archeological investigations in British Guiana. Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington. 1960. xxi + 418 + 68 plates + folding maps and tables. 1st ed., ex libre but with only two h/s's and no labels or marks on spine. Very clean in orig. green cloth. £50
FREETH Z. Run softly Demerara. George Allen & Unwin. 1960. 220pp + photo plates and publisher's ads. 1st ed., very fine in fine D/W. The author describes her time in the bauxite mining town of Mackenzie and her impressions of Guyana. £18
GOVERNMENT An Act for enabling His Majesty to direct the Issue of Exchequer Bills to a limited Amount, for the Purposes and in the Manner therein mentioned; and for giving relief to Trinidad, British Guiana, and Saint Lucie. London. 1832. 31pp. Fine. £8
GOVERNMENT Contract for constructing, equipping and working railways from Mahaica to Blairmont, and from Vreed-en-Hoop to Philadelphia, in British Guiana. London. 1901. 29 + 16 large pp, fine in card covers. £75
GREY Earl The Colonial Policy of Lord John Russell's Administration. Richard Bentley, London. 1853. 2 vols. xii + 473pp, iv + 414pp. 1st ed., mostly clean in original rather faded blindstamped cloth, showing wear to hinges. Good sections on Guiana, Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad and sections on other countries within the Commonwealth. £200
HARCOURT R. A relation of a voyage to Guiana. With Purchas's transcript of a report made at Harcourt's instance on the Marrawini district. Hakluyt Soc. 1928. xii + 191pp + folding plates and maps. Reprint of 1613 ed. with notes and introduction. Ex library with small label on inside cover and neat impressed handstamp on front board otherwise very fine in original blue decorated blind stamped cloth. Exploration in the Guianas. £95
IJZERMAN Dr R. Outline of the Geology and Petrology of Surinam (Dutch Guiana). Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague. 1931. xv + 519pp + 48 photo plates + 2 folding maps in rear pocket. 1st ed., very fine in orig. red. cloth. £95
JAMES C.L.R. Walter Rodney and the Question of Power. Race Today Pubs. 1983. 15pp. 1st ed. Paperback. £4
KAHN M.C. Djuka. The bush negroes of Dutch Guiana. Viking Press, New York. 1931. 233pp + plates. 1st ed., clean in orig. cloth. Anthropological study. £35
LARSEN H. Behind the Lianas. Exploration in French Guiana. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh. 1958. 211pp + plates. 1st English ed., fine in D/W. Description of expedition into the interior of the country with a study of the different native tribes and wildlife. £18
LAURENCE K.O. A question of labour. Indentured immigration into Trinidad and British Guiana 1875-1917. Ian Randle Publishers. 1994. ix + 648pp + 4 maps. 1st ed. Paperback. Fine. Study of the period of Indian immigration from 1875-1917. £30
LEECHMAN A. The British Guiana Handbook 1913. Containing general and statistical information concerning the colony, its industries, manufactures and commerce. Argosy Co. Ltd., Georgetown. 1913. x + 283pp + xii advertisments + coloured folding map and photo plates. 1st ed., map with tear but without loss. Tone spotting throughout. Very good original blue pictorial cloth. £55
MARRAT Rev. J. In the Tropics; or, scenes and incidents of West Indian life. Wesleyan Conference Office, London. 1881. 145pp + folding map and ads. 2nd ed. very fine in fine orig. green pictorial cloth. Descriptions of life in Wesleyan Missions in Antigua, Barbados, Br. Guiana and Tobago with attractive engraved plates. £85
MC TURK M. Essays and Fables written in the vernacular of the Creoles of British Guiana. Argosy Press, Georgetown. 1899. [4], 62pp, [2 (blank)], 3rd revised and enlarged ed., original cloth backed printed boards, fine. The author was the son of a progressive planter, was a Stipendary magistrate in Guiana. This work was originally published in 1877. £475
MISSIONARY MAGAZINE Vol. XXI No. 3 London. 1843 (Dec). 14pp. Disbound. Fine. Cover has woodcut view of Ebenezer Chapel, West Coast, Demerara and contents incl. 1.5 pp article on the Station and half a page on the 'Zeal of the negro Christians in Berbice.'MISSIONA019242 £16
MISSIONARY MAGAZINE Vol. XXI No. 2 London. 1843 (Sep). 14pp. Disbound. Fine. Cover has woodcut view of Fearn Chapel, Rossfield, Berbice and contents incl. 1pp article on the Station.MISSIONA019241 £16
MORPURGO E.J. Surinaamshce Almanak voor het jaar 1890. Paramaribo. 1889. 175pp + xxxxvii advertisments. 1st ed., fine in orig. decorated cloth, shaken. £125
MORPURGO E.J. Surinaamshce Almanak voor het jaar 1895. Paramaribo. 1889. 222pp + xxii advertisments. 1st ed., fine in orig. decorated cloth, shaken with two loose pages. £125
PALGRAVE W.G. Dutch Guiana Macmillan & Co, London. 1876. 264pp + 2 folding maps. 1st ed., in worn orig. boards with occasional minor tone spotting. Description and history of the colony. 'Conversant for many years with the negro races in those Eastern lands where they may be, from long domicilement, regarded as almost indigineous, I have felt a special interest in observing their present condition and probable future in the Western regions of more recent adoption. In no European colony have they been so completely identified with the soil as in Dutch Guiana; nowhere could they be studied to better advantage. To those, therefore, who feel interest, not in African geography only, but in African nationality, I commend the results of my observations on this subject.' (Preface). Scarce. Cundall p. 86 £120
PENNINGTON J. The currency of the British Colonies. Augustus M. Kelley, New York. 1967. 247pp. Facsimile reprint of 1848 ed., fine in orig. cloth. An important early work with chapters on Br. Guiana, B.N.A., Bermuda, Gibraltar, Malta, Mauritius, Ceylon and Hong Kong, etc. £8
RALEGH Sir W. The Discoverie of Guiana by Sir Walter Ralegh, 1596 and the discoveries of the World by Antonio Galvao, 1601 World Publishing Co, Cleveland. 1966. 112 + 97pp facsimile reprint + booklet of 20pp with historical introductions by A.L. Rouse and bibliographical notes by R.O. Dougan. Fine in vellum binding in special case. A high quality facsimile in fine binding. £75
RAMEL General Narrative of the deportation to Cayenne, of Barthelemy, Pichegru, Willot, Marbois, La Rue, Ramel, etc. in consequence of the 18th Fructidor, (September 4, 1797) containing a variety of important facts relative to that revolution, and to the voyage, residence and escape of Barthelemy, Pichegru, etc. From the French of General Ramel, commandant of the legislative body guard. Dublin. 1800. 122pp. 1st ed., some light toning, fine in modern cloth £85
RICHARDSON G. On the diamond trail in British Guiana. Methuen. 1925. 243pp + plates. 1st ed., clean in slightly damaged D/W. The author, a fearsome lady photographed holding a revolver on the frontispiece, describes her experiences in Guiana. Scarce with D/W. £85
RODNEY W. The Groundings with my brothers. Bogle-L'Ouverture Pubs. 1975. 68pp. Paperback. Guyanese writer. £10
RODWAY J. Hand book of British Guiana. Prepared under the direction of the Columbian Exposition literary committee of the Royal Agricultural and Commerce Society. Georgetown. 1893. 93pp + 25 plates, two folding maps and ads. 1st ed., very fine in fine original slightly chipped paper covers. Includes many fine photo plates. Very scarce. £175
ROTH W.E. Richard Schomburgk's travels in British Guiana 1840-1844. Translated and edited, with geographical and general indices, and route maps. Daily Chronicle, Georgetown. 1922. 2 vols. 402 + 443 large pp + many folding maps and plates. 1st ed., folio. Old blue cloth binding. Title page and first few pages of text affected by worming as are last pages of each volume otherwise mostly clean. 7 x 10" Important and scarce work on the colony. Recommended. £175
ROTH W.E. Richard Schomburgk's travels in British Guiana 1840-1844. Translated and edited, with geographical and general indices, and route maps. Daily Chronicle, Georgetown. 1922. 2 vols. 402 + 443 large pp + many folding maps and plates. 1st ed., folio. Original yellowdecorated cloth. Minor worm damage to binding of vol. 2 and just affecting margins of last few pages. Very light one spotting affecting a few pages of vol. 1. Overall a much above average copy of this work. 7 x 10" £425
ROTH W.E. An introductory study of the Arts, Crafts, and Customs of the Guiana Indians. Thirty Eighth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1916-1917. Washington. 1924. 745 large pp + folding map and many photo plates and some colour plates. 1st ed., ex libre with small mark on spine and bookplate on inner front cover but with no handstamps or other marks. Slight water stain in lower outer margin of many pages otherwise clean. 8 x 11.5" Detailed study of the way of life of the indigineous Indians. An impressive work. £80
ROTH W.E. Additional studies of the arts, crafts, and customs of the Guiana Indians with special reference to those of southern British Guiana. Govt. printing office, Washington. 1929. xvii + 110pp + coloured plates. 1st ed., fine in orig. green cloth. Detailed descriptions of fabrics, clothing, weaving techniques, etc. £60
ROTH W.E. Robert Hermann Schomburgk's travels in Guiana and on the Orinoco during the years 1835-1839. According to his reports and communications to the Geographical Society, London. Edited by O.A. Schomburgk with a preface by Alexander von Humboldt together with his essay on some important astronomical positions in Guiana. Translated by Walter E. Roth. Argosy Co., Georgetown. 1931. 202 large pp + plates and folding map. Very fine in orig. slightly soiled cloth. Originally published in Leipzig in 1841. £225
SHINEBOURNE J. The last English Plantation. Peepal Tree Press. 1988. 184pp. 1st ed. Paperback. Inscription on title page otherwise very clean. Novel set in 1950's British Guiana. £5
SMITH N. Black Martinique - red Guiana. Bobbs-Merrill Co., New York. 1942. 312pp + plates. 1st ed., fine in worn orig. cloth. Story set in Martinique and French Guiana. £25
STARK J.H. Stark's guide-book and history of British Guiana. Containing a description of everything relating to this colony that would be of interest to tourists and residents. Boston. 1902 (circa). 120pp + plates, folding map and ads. Fine in pictorial cloth. Fine early guide with good photo illustrations and some engraved views. £75
STAUNTON ST CLAIR Lt. T. A soldier's sojourn in British Guiana. (1806-1808) Edited by Vincent Roth. Daily Chronicle, Georgetown. 1947. iii + 281pp + viii. 1st ed., page edges toned otherwise clean in original pictorial card covers. Extracts from 'A residence in the West Indies and America, with a narrative of the expedition to the island of Walcheren,' published in 1834. £45
STEDMAN Cap. J.G. Narrative of a five years' expedition against the revolted negroes of Surinam in Guiana on the wild coast of South America from the years 1772 to 1777. Elucidating the history of that country and describing its productions.. Imprint Society, Massachusetts. 1971. 2 vols. in slip case. 480 large pp + 80 plates and folding maps. Fine ltd. ed. of 1950 copies reprint. The best reprint available of this important work. Includes 13 plates after William Blake. Stedman had the opportunity to study the natural history of the country and the social and economic state of the people. His descriptions of the cruelties practised on the negroes by their masters, and of the moral deterioration resulting, amounts to one of the most vivid indictments of slavery ever written.STEDMANC005768 £120
STEDMAN Cap. J.G. Narrative of a five years' expedition against the revolted negroes of Surinam in Guiana on the wild coast of South America from the years 1772 to 1777. Elucidating the history of that country and describing its productions.. Imprint Society, Massachusetts. 1971. 480 large pp + 80 plates and folding maps. Standard ed. in one volume. Clean in slightly torn D/W. £50
SURINAME Report on the year 1913 on the trade of Surinam. Edited at the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade. H.M.S.O. 1915. 10pp. 1st ed., ex libre with a few small h/s's otherwise clean in paper covers. £8
THOMPSON S. The journal of John Gabriel Stedman 1744-1797. Soldier and author. Including and authentic account of his expedition to Surinam, in 1772. Mitre Press. 1962. 437pp + plates. 1st ed., fine in D/W. Stedman was an officer in the Scots Brigade, a mercenary regiment, and describes his mission to Surinam to subdue the revolted negroes. This work includes useful historical notes on the text. £12
WATERTON C. Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States, and the Antilles, in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 and 1824. Edited with biographical introduction and explanatory index by the Rev. J.G. Wood. Macmillan & Co. 1880. xvi + 520pp. Fine in full calf decorated prize binding. Much on the Guianas with fine line drawings in text. £85
WEDEMEYER A.J.D. On Sapphire Seas, or cruising in the Tropics. A souvenir of the special cruise of the S.S. Madiana to Bermuda, the West Indies and Demerara, in February and March, nineteen hundred and two. Ernest Hart Printing Co., New York. 1903. 112pp. 1st ed., fine in very fine illustrated blue cloth. 7 x 10" Illustrated with many photo plates with good chapters on Barbados and Guiana and including a detailed account of the wreck of the steamship Madiana on the North Rock of Bermuda. Rare. £175
WHITEHEAD N.L. The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana by Sir Walter Ralegh, transcribed, annotated and introduced by Neil L. Whitehead. Uni. of Oklahoma Press. 1997. viii + 232pp. 1st ed., very fine in very fine D/W. £12
WEISS H. Vier maanden in Suriname. Nijkerk. 1915. viii + 166 + folding map. 1st ed., clean in orig. cloth. Fine illustrated guide to the former Dutch colony with many attractive photo views.WEISSH013388 £65
