Search Results: Central Asia from Craftsbury Antiquarian Books

Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1894. Book. Illus. by 27 black/white plates, 13 text illustrations, large folding map of the route. Very Good. 1/2 Leather. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. This is Rockhill's second trip from Peking, far to the west and south into Tibet at a time when the Chinese were especially suspicious of British travellers coming up from India into Tibet. So Rockhill must have established his friendly credentials from four years residence in Peking. He was a fine American Orientalist (American Travellers Abroad R 49). Near fine green morocco spine with raised bands, flanked by bright gilt lines and a bright gilt title. Green cloth boards with no edge wear. Inside, near fine with no foxing or browning. Very clean and tight. Inscribed and signed to Hon. Harold Sewell with kindest regards. This copy has not been read, as the top edges are uncut in the second half of the book. SCARCE.

London: Chapman and Hall, 1892. Book. Illus. by Illustrations and Map. Very Good. Hardcover. Stated 2nd Edition. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Very good original brown cloth with an oriental red design across the front. Some soiled and edgewear, with a dull gilt title on the spine. Inside, remarkably this copy has never been read. Some pages were uncut at the top or foreedge, and I have just cut them all. Very clean and tight, no foxing or stains. No prior owner marks. Pages (x including the half title), 365. Most entrepid travellers of this age profess to be enthralled or romantic in prose about their courage and what they have done. Not Mr. de Windt. Much on Siberia and Mongolia. Protected in a clear, mylar dustjacket. As with the first edition, only 750 copies were produced for this second edition. Thus, rather scarce..

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1889. Book. Illus. by 8 full page plates plus text illustrations. Good. 3/4 Leather. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Three-quarter black calf spine and corners, with red marbled papers on the boards. Some rubs and edge wear, but hinges strong. Age toning to the paper throughout, and some foxing. Book plate says " English Rooms, Funchal, may be kept 10 days" No other hints of library status, so apparently a rooming house loaning system. An officer with the Gurkhas for 30 years, this is his record of travel, hunting, bird shooting and fishing. .

London: Edward Arnold, 1896. Book. Illus. by 16 plate illustrations by Charles Whymper. Good. Decorative Cloth. 1st Edition. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. Original red cloth with gilt horned goats and rocks on the front cover, unrubbed. The spine is faded with gilt title and some wear at the edges and spine ends. Edge wear mostly at the corners where the cloth is rubbed away on all four corners. Inside, clean and tight. Hunting in Tibet, Kashmir, Ladakh, etc. for the last two decades of the 19th Century. Now protected in a clear, mylar dust jacket. .

London: William Heinemann, 1900. Book. Illus. by 29 Full Page Plates, 99 Text, All 5 Maps. Very Good. 3/4 Leather. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Describes hunting, among other animals, Marco Polo sheep, this is a notable trek through Gilgit to the Kilgit pass, over the Pamirs to Kashgar. It has a valuable bibliography. Pages xx, 354. Calf dark green 3/4 binding, with gilt lines and decorations on spine, and a fresh gilt red calf title label. The boards are marbled. Owner Hester Walcot in 1902 notes "From the author who I met in 1902". Clean and tight inside, neatly rebacked spine. Nice copy. The folding map has repairs on the verso, but in very nice condition. The map has Chitral in the SW corner, and Kashgar and Yarkand in the northeast. Overall, a very nice leatherbound copy..

Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1985. Book. Illus. by 4 Color & 64 black/white Plates. Near Fine. Cloth. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. SCARCE. This neolithic site was discovered in Tibet in 1977. Pages 179, in a very clean copy with no rubs and no prior owner marks. Profuse text illustrations and site maps. . Text in Chinese except for 5 page English abstract..

New York: The Century Cco., 1891. Book. Illus. by 2 maps, nixcely illustrated with mostly text sketches. Very Good. Cloth. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. This is Rockhill's first trip from Peking, subtitled Notes of a Journey Through China, Mongolia and Tibet. He was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution on both trips at a time when the Chinese were especially suspicious of British travellers coming up from India into Tibet. So Rockhill must have established his friendly credentials from four years residence in Peking. He was a fine American Orientalist (American Travellers Abroad R 49). Very good original brown cloth with a leather title label and bright gilt letters on the unfaded spine. Only a hint of edge wear. Inside, near fine with no foxing or browning. Very clean and tight. .

London: Harrison, 1876. Book. Illus. by 11 photo plates of splendid animal heads. Fair. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Original green cloth with a horned beast in gilt on the front board. A gilt title on the spine which is in poor condition. Much wear on the edges and corners small pieces missing from the head and tail of the spine, with two rips in the cloth hinges. Ex-library from the Transvaal Dept of Agriculture with stamps on the title page. But the pages and plates are clean. Fine accounts of rigorous expeditions into remote Tibet. A SCARCE book. .

Edinburgh: Birlinn, Ltd., 2016. Book. Illus. by maps and illustrations. Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. A beautiful copy with no wear, no prior owner marks, no flaws inside or out. With a fine, unclipped dust jacket. Burnes was a remarkable young man, thrust into leadership by his linguistic and other talents, but buffeted by rivalries in the British Empire, and poor policy. The author was a diplomat, now academic, who knows of such buffeting and is the better writer and researcher for it. That research included much time in the archives of the East India Co. in India. Enclosed in this copy is a review by Hayden Peake in CIA's Studies in Intelligence..

New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Book. Fine. Cloth. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Subtitled, "How to be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet and Beyond". Judged by the N.Y. Times to be one of the ten best books of 2006. As new copy , dustjacket NOT price clipped, with a review laid in at the back by Hilary Mantel in the NY Review of Books. This is especially pertinent after the rejection of the West by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021..

Boston: Little, , 1928. Book. Illus. by 32 black/white photo plates, some with 2 photos per plate, all present. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Original brown cloth withred titles on the front and the unfaded spine. Split in the outside cloth hinge for two inches at the top, but protected in a clear, mylar sleeve. Inside photo endpapers of rhinoceros. Very clean and tight with no foxing or browning. There is a prior owner inscription. Foreword by Kermit Roosevelt. The author collected specimens for the American Museum of Natural History. He was attacked and tortured by Mongols for his trouble. Czech AF, page 37..