Portrait of the Dalai Lama - 1946

London: Collins, 1946. First edition. Octavo (). [1]-414 pp. With a full color fontispiece of the Dalai Lama at age thirty-four and numerous full-page black and white photographs throughout. With maps printed on the endpapers. Publisher's original orange cloth. Front board stamped in gilt. Spine lettered and stamped in gilt. Minor stain to front board. Binding slightly skewed. Jacket chipped and creased a bit along edges and spine extremities. Jacket a bit dust soiled and with some tape repairs on the inside bottom of spine. Overall a very good copy. "For more than twenty years the late Sir Charles Bell, acting as the Dali Lama's political adviser, was in a unique position to study him as a man, as a ruler, and as the head of a religion permeating the lives of many millions of people. It is an authoritative book, teeming with interest and detailed information, and as the central figure of the King-Priest emerges, so also does the astonishing background of the country and people which he ruled- the splendid mountainous scenery, the way of life and curious customs of the inhabitants, the amazing fortress-palace of the Dalai Lama on the Potala Hill and, above all, the little-known and ancient religious beliefs and practices of the country. Sir Charles Bell wrote much about Tibet, and it is fitting that this book, completed shortly before his death, should be, the most notable of his literary achievements." (From the front flap). HBS 68696. $1,500.