elcome to Bibliotreks.com. Here you will find offered for sale some of the finest available copies of rare and collectible books on travel, exploration, discovery, views and archaeology.

I founded Bibliotreks in 1999 out of a growing interest in certain rare books, particularly those written in the first person by the travelers, explorers and discoverers who brought back word of places previously unknown to the western world. It seemed to me then, as it does now, that history is fresh and new again when read through their eyes - certainly more so than through the dry, third-person compilations of editors who weren't there. The books themselves, as historical artifacts, become messengers from another time and place, bearing wondrous news of these discoveries. They deliver this news not only by their texts, but by their bindings, their illustrations, their physical condition and their provenance. Although my interests have since wandered into neighboring lands, I have never forgotten the sense of freshness and newness that such first-hand accounts bring.

Please take a moment of your time to browse through the descriptions and images of the books presented here. I particularly invite your attention to the latest of our ongoing series of featured items - a pre-publication copy of Leaves From the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, inscribed and dated by Queen Victoria in 1865 - three years before the book was first published, and containing eleven mounted albumen prints by Scottish photographer George Washington Wilson. Who was Charles Lindley Wood, to whom Queen Victoria inscribed this copy of Leaves From the Journal of Our Life, and what was his relationship to the royal family? What was the tragic event in Victoria's life that gave her refuge at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish highlands greater significance and led to the publication of Leaves From the Journal of Our Life? You can find out here.

Finally, whether you seek to purchase our books, to sell yours or simply to share our interest in such books, we are always happy to hear from you.

Ted Charnley, Proprietor