A DESCRIPTION OF A SINGULAR ABORIGINAL RACE BY HENRY HARKNESS 1832 FIRST EDITION
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[HARKNESS, HENRY]. A Description of a Singular Aboriginal Race Inhabiting the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills, or Blue Mountains of Coimbatoor, in the Southern Peninsula of India. London: Published by Smith, Elder, and Co., 1832.
First edition. Cloth-bound. Hardcover. Tall octavo (260 x 160 x 18 mm). Pp. vi, (2), 175, (1), [8 advertisements] [plus 4 unnumbered leaves of plates]. English text. Bound in publisher's original quarter cloth, smooth cloth spine with paper title-label, paper-covered boards. Initial and terminal blanks present. 4 lithographic plates including frontispiece. Printed footnotes throughout. Publisher's advertisements to rear. Printed by Bradbury and Evans. Condition: GOOD to VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding tight, secure and square, the hinges intact. Light discolouration to boards, with mild rubbing to spine ends and points. Interior largely clean; however, there is foxing to the plates and endpapers. Bookplate to front pastedown. Scarce thus.
Notes: Rare first edition bound in the original covers. The fabled Blue Mountains were discovered by Whish and Kindersley around 1818, after which the region became a favourite recreational venue during the British Raj. This early account was later supplemented by a variety of writers including Burton and Thurston. The plates are by Haghe after McCurdy; they depict a Tuda family, the missionary house at Dimhutty, antiquities found in the cairns of Caroni, and a lake at Oatacamund.