Search Results: Authors starting with G from John Randall (Books of Asia)

London: Oxford University Press, 1939. First edition, 8vo, pp.xvi, 259, 2 plates. A very good copy in lightly soiled original cloth. Corners and spine slightly bumped. John Desmond Gimlette (1867-1934) was encouraged to produce this work by his good friend Walter Skeat, author of Malay Magic and inspiration to Rudyard Kipling, as a more comprehensive and user-friendly English-Malaysian medical dictionary than the first attempt published by Dr. P.N. Gerrard in 1905. Gimlette died an untimely death in 1934 having completed only two-thirds of this dictionary and it was completed, according to his wishes, by H.W. Thomson. Gimlette was an active doctor who lived for years in the Malaysian Peninsula and was co-discoverer of Derris elliptica as an insecticide. He was described as "one of God's own" because of his kindness and friendliness alongside his expertise. He also had a deep personal interest in indigenous medical practices and authored Malay Poisons and Charm Cures. The plates show… Read More

Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1865. First edition, published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume XXXIV, Part I, No.II; pp.(71)-79, ten mounted photographs, each approximately 7 x 6.5 cm. Whole issue present. A very good copy in later card wrappers, original front wrapper bound in. Photographs a little faded. Haversham Godwin-Austen (1834-1923) joined the Kashmir Survey in 1857 and made several expeditions into Ladakh until 1863 when he was seconded to Bhutan. He probably observed this performance on his second season in 1858, though he passed again through Hemis on a climbing expedition in 1862. "G-A was a great explorer and probably the greatest mountaineer of his day... he was also an artist of considerable talent" - Mason, Abode of Snow. These photographs were taken at the monastery of Hemis (3800 metres) by Captain Alexander Brodie Melville, a keen amateur photographer, who also served with the Survey of Kashmir. They are amongst the earliest to be taken in… Read More