An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul, and Its Dependencies in Persia, Tartary and India;
Comprising A View of the Afghaun Nation, and a History of the Dooraunee Monarchy.
London. Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 1815. First edition. Stock ID #222755 Montstuart Elphinstone (1779 - 1859) was an administrator with the East India Company, who in 1808, was sent by the British Indian authorities on a mission to Afghanistan for the purpose of concluding an agreement with the Afghan ruler, Shah Shuja Durrani. His landmark account was the first major English study of the region and the fine costume plates offered the first detailed Western classification of Afghan tribes. When referring to this item please quote stockid 222755.
xxi + [v*-viii*] "Notice regarding the map" & list of plates, 675pp + errata leaf (2pp), large hand coloured folding map, mounted on linen and tipped onto a later leaf (at rear) and full-page map outlined in hand colour (opp. p. 83) +14 plates (13 hand-coloured: the frontispiece, plate XIII bound opposite p 519); contemporary diced-calf boards, 29 x 22 cm, rebacked, spine gilt-ruled in compartments, with black title label gilt-lettered, original grey endpapers, marbled edges, maps toned, plates in very good condition, some offsetting to the text and a couple of leaves creased, scant spotting and some marginal staining (costume plates unaffected, the plate opp. p 376 with a tidemark and rather browned), an early inked inscription to the front pastedown "Maria Hudson to Charles George Richardson, June, 1839" and another early owner "Gertrude Louisa Allen" to the title-page, the name of a modern owner inked neatly to the front pastedown, a good complete copy of a handsome work.
Price: $5,500.00 AU