Sir Joseph Hooker traversed the Central and Eastern Himalayas in 1848, a time when no traveller or naturalist, however bedazzled by its mystique, has ventured forth. Even today, more than a hundred years later, there is dearth of literature on the region. Mindful and adventursome, the author paid acute attention to detail. The journals are much more that exhaustive notes of botanical interest, they are packed with appealing anecdotes and significant sociological insights, all sprinkled with a pinch of humour.

 

First UK editions are getting scarce; this is the first set we have had in perhaps ten years. Bound in its original red cloth with gold letters and cover embossed image. Internally lightly foxed, externally spines and cover edges are faded, and the spine of Volume 1 has some wear and been lightly repaired. Overall Very Good. The cloth was notably fragile on this title and we see more copies rebound than is usually the case with this old a book, this is still in its original cloth.