Roberts Points Unknown

Roberts, David (Edited by): Points Unknown: A Century of Great Exploration, New York and London W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2000
ISBN: 0393050009 Very Good

608 pp.; 25 cm. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Age toning. Stated "First Edition." Dust jacket price-clipped on front flap, with light edgewear. "From Robert Falcon Scott's final journal entry to Jon Krakauer's daring solo climb of the Devils Thumb to Tom Wolfe's brilliant portrayal of Chuck Yeager shattering the sound barrier, David Roberts and the editors of Outside magazine have gathered the most enduring adventure literature of the century into one heart-stopping volume. A frigid winter ascent of Mount McKinley; the vastness of Arabia's Empty Quarter; the 'Death Zone' near Everest's summit; the fatal black pressure of an underwater cave; a desperate escape through a Norwegian winter--these and thirty-six other stories recount the minutes, hours, and days of lives pushed to the brink. Many are timeless first-person accounts brought back from the edge of the grim circumstances their authors lived to retell. Such reports open a window into the soul of adventure, the impulse that drives men to reach into the unknown. They also remind us that for the improbable and unbelievable, reality outstrips fiction every time. But there is more to adventure than hair-breadth escapes. Points Unknown includes inner passages: soul-searing quests across deserts, vividly evocative idylls, startling first encounters with primitive peoples, a poignant report of North America's last 'wild' Native American, and even a few whimsical stories that reveal the spontaneity at the heart of adventure. As Roberts writes in his introduction, 'an inordinate number of the excerpts in this book spring from dire predicaments their authors would just as soon have avoided....Just as it takes interpersonal conflict to animate a novel, so danger and failure often give the spark to a journey that turns it into a memorable adventure.' By turns charming and tragic, whimsical and nerve-racking, this extraordinary collection gets to the bottom of why adventure stories enthrall us. Selections include works by Edward Abbey, Tim Cahill, Edward Hoagland, Sebastian Junger, Jon Krakauer, Eric Newby, Ernest Shackleton, Freya Stark, and Wilfred Thesiger. As this stunning collection makes plain, exploration and the prose it inspires are alive and well at the turn of the new century. / David Roberts is the author (with Conrad Anker) of The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest, among other books." - Publisher. First Edition, First Printing Very Good Hard Cover 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall

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[SHIBA, Kokan.]. TENCHI RIDAN: LITERARY WORKS BY SHIBA KOKAN..
BY JAPAN'S RENAISSANCE MAN THE LEONARDO DA VINCIA OF JAPAN Shiba Kokan [1747-1818] was one of Japan's leading Rangaku- sha or Dutch learning scholars. He lived and worked in Naga- saki, where he studied European methods of drawing, includ- ing perspective & copper-plate engraving. This is a copy of one of his rarer books & studies, including pictures & notes on foreign animals, Western astronomy, foreign languages: Korean Hangul, Sanscrit, Western alphabet & numbers. * An important work, by Shiba [1747-1818], the great and most celebrated artist, scholar, geographer, innovator, artist, and pioneer in the Westernization of Japan, and august Rena- issiance man of Japan. He was also a celebrated Rangakusha or scholar of Dutch learning. He is responsible for explain- ing the workings of the sun, earth & moon, and is considered the "father of Japanese cartography." He also learned from the Dutch in Nagasaki the principles of Western perspective, until then unknown to the Japanese. He acquired knowledge of copper-engraving, oil-painting. * Shiba Kokan [1747-1818], also known as Suzuki Harushige was a Japanese painter and printmaker of the Edo period, famous both for his Western-style yoga paintings, in imitation of Dutch oil painting styles, methods, and themes, which he painted as Kokan, and his ukiyo-e prints, primarily forgeries of the works of Suzuki Harunobu, which he created under the name Harushige. Kokan did not seek to hide or disguise his forgeries, and in fact is said to have boasted of his ability to forge the great master so well. Shiba was also important and great artist, scholar, geographer, a celebrated innovator and pioneer in the Westernization of Japan & august Renaissance man of Japan. He was responsible for explaining the workings of the sun, earth & moon, and is considered the "father of Japanese cartography." He also learned from the Dutch in Nagasaki the principles of Western perspective, until then unknown to the Japanese. He acquired knowledge of copper-engraving, oil-painting. * Shiba was a student of Suzuki Harunobu, So Shiseki, and Hiraga Gennai, and mastered a number of very different styles, and was also a great innovator, exploring new methods and styles on his own. He became the first Japanese artist, in 1783, to use copperplate engraving to successful effect. Following Harunobu's death in 1770, Kokan placed Harunobu's signature on a number of his own prints, which were supposedly accepted as true works of Harunobu at the time. Today, art historians have noted the distinctive calligraphic style of the faked Harunobu signature, the use of Western-style perspective, and the somewhat less delicate figures in works by "Harushige" [Kokan]. * Like many other Edo period artists, Kokan used a great variety of other names at various points in his career, though "Shiba Kokan", "Suzuki Harushige", and close variations on those appear far more often. Variations include Shiba Shun and Suzuki Shun [Shun being an alternate reading of the same character that forms the Haru of Harunobu or Harushige], while his other names include Ando, Kichijiro, Katsusaburo, Fugen-dojin, Kungaku, Rantei, and Shunparo. * Kokan lived in Nagasaki, and studied under Dutch physicians and scholars [Rangaku Dutch studies] in addition to his pursuits as an artist. Interested in astronomy in particular, he wrote and illustrated a book on Copernicus' theories, entitled Kopperu Temmon Zukai, Illustrated Explanation of Copernicus' Astronomy. * BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. French: SHIBA KOKAN for much more information. Nicely illustrated, with several hemispheric views of the earth. * L. Brown: BLOCK-PRINTING AND BOOK-ILLUSTRATION IN JAPAN FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, p.147 for more information on Shiba. * L. Roberts: DICTIONARY OF JAPANESE ARTISTS, p.88. * E. Papinot: HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF JAPAN, p.562. * M. Hosono: NAGASAKI PRINTS AND EARLY COPPERPLATES * Kokan was known as Japan's Leonardo da Vince, a renaissance man, a prolific author & writer publishing some 33 works in all. A most fascinating work and superbly illustrated resource on early Japan by an astute and most scholarly intellectual observer. * Color scans can be sent by email. !! WARNING: The above description is COPYRIGHT protected material under United States & International Copyright & Intellectual property laws. Unauthorized copying or use of ANY PART is a felony and will be PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW !!! * * * * SHIPPING: WE SHIP WORLD WIDE * * * * * The shipping costs displayed for our books on ZVAB are ONLY AN ESTIMATE !!! * ACTUAL costs are based book weight, destination and value. * We will inform you of shipping costs and options once you select the book. **FOREIGN: We usually ship by registered/insured airmail to customers abroad. **DOMESTIC: We ship to USA customers by UPS/FEDEX or U.S. MAIL, appropriate insurance/registry and signature required will appply. ***** Please inquire if you have any questions regarding shipping or payments .

[Tokyo 1930, Oka Shoin. Brown cloth, very good, compiled by Muraoka Noritsugu, 91p., Japanese text, 25 b.w. photos from the original text, top gilt, head, tail of spine bit worn, covers bit scuffed, contents clean, tissue guards. SCARCE

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Roberts, David: POINTS UNKNOWN A Century of Great Exploration, Outside Books 2000
0393050009

No defects. Pages are crisp, tight, book appears unread. . 41 nonfiction, first-person tales with stories of mountain, polar, jungle, desert, aviation, and ocean adventure and exploration. . Trade PB. 8vo - 8" to 9" tall. 608 pages

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Editor-David Roberts: Points Unknown: A Century of Great Exploration (Outside Books) Outside Books
ISBN: 0393050009 New

Hardcover

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