Search Results: Central Asia from John Randall (Books of Asia)

Berlin , 1922-28. Five volumes folio, in total 293 pages, 167 plates, 51 in colour, 259 illustrations, 61 maps and plans. Ergebnisse der Kgl. Preussischen Turfan Expeditionen. A very good set in original boards, neatly rebacked in calf to original style. Volume I with minor library marks. This set lacks Volume IV, Atlas zu den Wandmalereien, published in 1924 and Volume VII, Neue Bildwerke, 1933. There were four German expeditions to Turkestan between 1902 and 1914. The first, led by Grunwedel, worked at several sites in the Turfan Oasis in 1902-03, notably Karakhoja (or Khocho), Sengim and Murtuk. Forty-four crates of the finds, clay and wood figures, woodcuts, manuscripts and wall-paintings, were despatched to Berlin. The second expedition, 1904-05, was led by von Le Coq. He spent three months methodically investigating Karakhoja before moving his attention to the temple complexes of Sengim, Bezeklik and Toyok. In August he moved to Komul (Hami). Grunwedel returned for the third expedition,… Read More

Shanghai: Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House, 1997-2005. First edition Six volumes folio, pp.83, 111 colour plates; 229, 137 colour plates, many illustrations; 6, 359 pages of illustration; 6, 384 pages of illustration; 327, 295 pages of illustration; 544, many illustrations. A very good set, original cloth, slip-cases.

Oxford: Privately printed., 1914. First edition, pp.35, frontis portrait. A very good copy in original boards. Paper spine professionally repaired. Theodore Duka (1825-1908), a Hungarian army officer, studied medicine in Britain, worked as a doctor in India and became fluent in several Indian languages. Erdelyi 1.079.

Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1928. First edition, four volumes, folio, pp.xxxix, 547; xii, (549)-1159, 505 photographic illustrations; 138 plates (numbered to 137, with one A plate), 13 in colour, 59 plans; 52 folding maps. A very good set in original cloth. Rather torn and soiled dust wrappers. The detailed scientific report on Aurel Stein's third great Central Asian Expedition in which he covered nearly 11,000 miles in thirty-two months between 1913 and 1916, and pursued geographical as well as archaeological research. From Kashmir Stein followed the pilgrim route to Kashgar, crossed the Taklamakan desert to Khotan, and explored the Lop desert discovering the ancient site of Lou-lan. He revisited the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", pushed down the Etsin-gol and investigated Khara-khoto, the site first discovered by Colonel Kozlov. From there to Turfan, where the expedition secured "a considerable collection of interesting mural paintings from ruined Buddhist shrines".… Read More

London: John Murray, 1872. New (i.e. second) edition, edited by his son. pp.cvii, [2, half-title], 280, 32 (adverts), frontispiece, 2 folding maps. A very good copy in the original blind decorated cloth. Spine sun-faded, slight spotting to a few leaves. John Wood (1812-1871) was a naval officer who took great interest in exploration and geography, and achieved considerable fame for being the first European to discover and chart the source of the Oxus. With his flair for exploration and cartography Wood was chosen to lead an expedition into Central Asia in 1838. His narrative is gripping with tales of danger and excitement throughout, but is most engaging in it's impartial frankness on the condition of the people he met and the lands through which he travelled. This edition, published by Wood's son in commemoration of his father's death, is considerably expanded with Yule's essay bringing the known history and geography of the Oxus and it's surrounding region up to date. Henry… Read More

Moscow: K.S. Henry, 1866. First edition in Russian, 8vo, pp.[ii], vi, 322, [ii]. A very good copy in later half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt. Slightly foxed throughout, a few ink stains. Red Chinese chop on title. Russian newspaper clipping (1880's) about Mongolia and Baikal bound in at end. The Russian translation of Huc and Gabet's account of their travels undertaken in 1844-46, first published in Paris in 1850 as Souvenirs d'un voyage dans la Tartarie, le Thibet et la Chine, which proved so popular that it was rapidly reprinted and translated into several European languages. Évariste Régis Huc (1813-1868), a French Lazarist missionary, was first sent to China in 1839, and went on to travel extensively in China, Tartary and Tibet. In 1844, with his fellow missionary Joseph Gabet (1808-c.1850), he was ordered to approach and study nomadic Mongol tribes. Assuming the dress of lamas they embarked on an 18-month voyage to Lhasa, and were the first Europeans to enter the… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1924. Fourth impression, pp.253, portrait, 6 illustrations, 2 maps. A very good copy in original cloth. Spine and corners lightly bumped. A fascinating account of the two expeditions made by Lilian Agnes Starr (1885-1977), a nurse of the Peshawar Mission Hospital, into Tibet and Afghanistan. The first, in 1922, was a vacation with her single servant to Leh, capital of Ladakh, reveals an immensely rich culture brought to life by Starr's frank and vivid descriptions. The second expedition, in 1923, was a far more dramatic affair which earned Starr no small amount of fame in England and elsewhere. In 1923 the British cantonment Kohat, near the Afghanistan border, was raided by Afridi tribesmen and British citizen Mollie Ellis was captured. It was Lilian Starr who was chosen to find Mollie Ellis and negotiate her return, and upon her successful return was lauded world-wide. The writing, directly from Starr's personal journal and diaries, is frank and lends a… Read More

Bonn: H.B. Konig, 1838. First edition, pp.284. German text. A very good copy in paper covered boards, gilt leather spine label. Light rubbing and bumping to boards and spine, slight foxing scattered throughout. One of the earliest attempts to decipher Bactrian script using Bactrian, Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian coins with Kharoshthi legend inscriptions. The author disagrees with the theories of, among others, Masson, Prinsep and Grotefend, and firmly propounds his own ideas. Christian Lassen (1800-1876), a German Indologist, understood a dozen languages including Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic. His annotated edition of the Hitopadesa (1831), edited in conjunction with August Wilhelm von Schlegel, was the first critical study of Sanskrit literature. He was also the first to decipher Brahmi scipt in 1836, and one of the first to attempt to decipher Bactrian.