Ray van Wyk Rare Books

Ray van Wyk Rare Books We are a rare book firm based in Cape Town, South Africa. We welcome offers to purchase books, maps, art and paper ephemera.

We also offer consulting, valuation and research services to the trade, public and other industries.

Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market", written in the 1850s and first published in 1862 is considerd the first widely ack...
02/04/2026

Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market", written in the 1850s and first published in 1862 is considerd the first widely acknowledged piece of poetry of the Pre-Raphelite movement. Christina's brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, launched the book with a sparse and elegant binding design, as well as a title page vignette and frontispiece, pictured here.

We're delighted to offer this rare first edition in immaculate condition for sale on our website. Link in bio.

The brothers Grimm published their first collection of German folk tales, Kinder-und Hausmärchen, in 1812. Here are a fe...
02/04/2026

The brothers Grimm published their first collection of German folk tales, Kinder-und Hausmärchen, in 1812. Here are a few images from the first Crane edition of 1882 - a collaboration by another set of siblings, Walter and Lucy Crane. Lucy Crane's English translation of the German is highly readable and still in print today. Her brother Walter's illustrations are some of the finest from the Golden Age of Illustration.

We have a copy of the large paper edition for sale on our website, link in bio.

We have just added a collection of maps, published as recently as 1730 to as early as 1575, to our online catalogue.Besi...
19/02/2026

We have just added a collection of maps, published as recently as 1730 to as early as 1575, to our online catalogue.

Besides being beautiful aesthetic objects, these old maps tell fascinating stories of how the people and cultures that created them thought about themselves and about the people and places they depicted.

Shown here are details from maps of Russia and Europe with sea monsters stalking sailing ships, a beautifually detailed, hand coloured map of Morocco and a rare 16th century map of Ethiopia, correctly identifying the source of the Blue Nile as lake Tana (Tzana).

All of these maps and others are availble to purchase on our website:

https://www.rayvanwykrarebooks.com/collections/antique-maps

It has been a joy to prepare this fine, 3rd English edition copy of Machiavelli's Works, published in 1695, for our cata...
08/01/2026

It has been a joy to prepare this fine, 3rd English edition copy of Machiavelli's Works, published in 1695, for our catalogue. The Works appeared at a crucial time in the development of ideas around democractic government and although it is over 300 years old, remains influential and is without question a salient work for our time.

As always, more information is available on our website - https://www.rayvanwykrarebooks.com/products/the-works-of-the-famous-nicolas-machiavel-3rd-english-edition-1695

Literature and poetry are some of humanity’s primary cultural outputs. Poems, novels, short stories and other creative w...
26/10/2025

Literature and poetry are some of humanity’s primary cultural outputs. Poems, novels, short stories and other creative works often have profound and formative impacts on their readers. These books are sought out not only for their particular interest to - or enjoyment of - the individual collector, but often for the impact they made on culture, art, writing and broader society.

Explore our Literature and Poetry collection on our website.

https://www.rayvanwykrarebooks.com/collections/literature-poetry

In 1975 David Goldblatt published his second photobook. Some Afrikaners Photographed remains a delicate, nuanced and hum...
25/10/2025

In 1975 David Goldblatt published his second photobook.

Some Afrikaners Photographed remains a delicate, nuanced and humane critique of a brutally oppressive regime, that documents the everyday lives of Afrikaners on the margins of its reach. The first edition was limited to 1000 copies and each copy signed by Goldblatt. More information about this copy is available on our website.

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8 Luttrel Crescent, Fish Hoek
Cape Town
7945

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