JOURNEY TO LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET BY SARAT CHANDRA DAS 1902 FIRST EDITION

JOURNEY TO LHASA AND CENTRAL TIBET BY SARAT CHANDRA DAS 1902 FIRST EDITION

£750.00

Tax included.

[DAS, SARAT CHANDRA]. Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet. London: John Murray, 1902.

First edition. Cloth-bound. Hardcover. Octavo (220 x 140 x 25 mm). Pp. x, [4], 285. English text - edited by W. W. Rockhill. Bound in publisher's original cloth with gilt titles. Initial and terminal blanks plus half-title present. 2 large coloured folding maps, 4 coloured plans, and numerous photographic illustrations. Printed foot-notes. Rear index in double columns. Printed by Willian Clowes and Sons. Condition: GOOD to VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding tight and secure with the hinges intact. Covers largely well-preserved with some bubbling in the cloth and very slight bumping to spine ends. Interior very fresh and clean, the maps and plans excellent. Without previous ownership markings. An excellent copy and scarce thus.

Notes: Sarat Chandra Das was an Indian scholar of Tibetan culture and language noted for his two journeys to Tibet in 1879 and in 1881–1882. This book deals mostly with his second journey, when he made surveys east and west of Tashilunpo, of the Yarlung Valley and Lake Yamdo Tse. Profusely illustrated, with numerous illustrations and many fold-out maps. Printed on glossy paper to better capture the impact of the images. Chadra Das was the most famous of the Indian 'pundits' who secretly spied on and mapped Tibet at the behest of the British Government. This present volume contains the recollections of his journey to Lhasa, undertaken some years prior to the British invasion, while Lhasa was still closed to foreigners. Rockhill, editor of this volume, had twice tried and failed to reach the holy city. This book went a long way towards dispelling the air of mystery that still clung (and perhaps still does) to Lhasa.