New York, Scribners, 1896, 1st USA edition. 409 pp, With 4 folding maps (1 in an end pocket) and 18 plates, original green cloth, gilt decoration, Near Fine, bright, no flaws except the slightest rubbing to the edges and corners. The true first edition of this title is quite scarce, especially in this fine and bright condition.
The classic work of Central Asian exploration, perhaps the definitive work of its time. Younghusband's journeys through the Pamirs established his reputation as a Central Asian explorer of the first rank and led to him being awarded the Founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
Although the author did not make the first journey from Peking to India (he was beaten by a few weeks by Colonel Bell), his dramatic journey over the Mustagh Pass, and his descent of the Baltoro Glacier, passing through the heart of Karakoram, makes this one of the greatest of Asian journeys.
Also described are expeditions made into other parts of the Pamirs and Himalayas, including his famous encounter with the Russian Colonel Yonoff, together with information on the northern borders of Ladakh, and an account of Russian exploration in Chinese Turkestan and the borders of Tibet.
Younghusband (1863-1942) was a British soldier, explorer and mystic, who was born in India, educated at Sandhurst, and joined the Dragoon Guards in India in 1882. He developed considerable knowledge of Central Asia, and went on to serve the British Raj in many ways, often travelling constantly. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the first three Mount Everest expeditions.
