Introducing our Facebook page and Recent acquisitions section updated (January 13)

“The Europeans have such obscure and various notions of Japan, and especially of our island Formosa, that they can believe nothing for truth that has been said about it”, wrote George Psalmanazar to Bishop Henry Compton of London. This may have been so, but readers certainly should not believe much of what Psalmanazar wrote in his own An historical and geographical description of Formosa, because it is one of the greatest literary hoaxes in history. A second French edition of this famous work is one of thirty new items in our online inventory.

George Psalmanazar (ca. 1679-1763) arrived in England in 1703, claiming to be a heathen Japanese from the island of Formosa (present day Taiwan), abducted from there by the Jesuits and taken to France. In London he became some sort of celebrity, due to his exotic behavior, and, seizing the momentum, he wrote a book on his so-called homeland. An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, an Island subject to the Emperor of Japan appeared in 1704 and became an instant success. The work describes the customs of the Formosan people and even contains a Formosan grammar. Although the book immediately provoked criticism, it took people ten years to find out that Psalmanazar was a French imposter and that most of the contents of his book had been invented, including the complete grammar… By that time, Psalmanazar had given already many lectures to learned societies, including the Royal Society, and had almost been invited to lecture at Oxford. As a source of Formosa, the book is not of much use anymore, but as one of the greatest hoaxes in literary history it still remains very interesting. Click here for more information on our copy.

Another famous fraud was, of course, Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron Münchhausen (1720-797). In our online inventory you can now find a rare Dutch translation of the humorous adventures of the German baron in Russia, Iceland, Turkey, Egypt, Gibraltar and at sea, that were first written down by Rudolph Erich Raspe. De verrezen Gulliver; behelzende de zonderlinge reizen en avonturen van den Baron van Munchhausen is based on the English edition of 1787. Our copy contains 8 very nice full-page illustrations, also after the English original. Click here for a full description of this entertaining work!
If you are more interested in journeys that really took place, we recommend a charming album with souvenirs of a Grand Tour made by an unidentified English student. It contains 47 drawings and watercolors that depict daily life in Europe in the early 1840’s! Visit the Recent acquisitions section of our website for these and 27 other interesting items, including a seventeenth century work on childbirth, a short treatise on agriculture in Brazil, and an important work on Egypt!

Facebook

Although we specialize in the past, we like to keep up with the times. Therefore, Antiquariaat FORUM now has its own little corner on the fastest growing virtual network in the world. We think Facebook offers exciting new possibilities in communicating with you, our friends and clients. We will use our new page for previews of our recent acquisitions, news related to the world of the antiquarian book in general and FORUM in particular, exclusive views behind the scenes of Antiquariaat FORUM, and much more. If you are a Facebook user yourself and would like to be among the first to be informed of our activities, please visit our profile and click the ‘Like’ button!

Upcoming fairs

In February we will fly to San Francisco to participate in the California International Antiquarian Book Fair. If you would like us to bring a specific title from our stock, please let us know in advance.

This year, we are not participating in the Stuttgarter Antiquariatsmesse (January 28-30), but we will be visiting and look forward to meeting our German customers.