Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde First Edition - Henry Pottinger - Bauman Rare Books

Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde

Henry POTTINGER

Item#: 76791 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde

WITH EXCEPTIONAL LARGE FOLDING MAP: 1810 BRITISH RECONNAISSANCE INTO IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN

POTTINGER, Henry. Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; Accompanied by a Geographical and Historical Account of those Countries, with a Map. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1816. Quarto, period-style full brown speckled calf, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, red and green morocco spine labels.

First edition of this British secret mission into the region between India and Teheran, with wonderful hand-colored aquatint frontispiece of “Sindian Foot Soldiers” and large folding map (37 by 26-1/2 inches) of “Beloochistan and Sinde, with Parts of Kutch, Seistan, Khorasan, [and] Persia,” with routes outlined in color.

Disguised as Muslim horse-traders, British secret service officers Henry Pottinger and Charles Christie, in 1810 followed orders “to explore the Baluchi country and the east of Persia, tracts at that time were wholly unknown to Europeans” (Elphinstone), as well as “to collect information on roads and other means of moving troops and to study the political situation in Herat… noted for its strategic position, which at that time was the trading crossroad of central Asia” (Howgego, 489). The mission was undertaken in order to help prepare the Persian army against foreign invasion, a promise Britain had made in return for the Shah’s influence on the Afghans in negotiating peace with the British in India. Based upon his official report to “the Right Honorable Governor-General in Council,” Pottinger’s Travels was an immediate best-seller, describing his under-cover activities, including “such incidents as I thought curious or amusing,” and outlining the routes that were taken by advancing troops of the East India Company and then by the British Empire. Howgego P43. Faint library stamp of the Governor General’s Office in Baluchistan on the title page, page 99 and the verso of the last leaf.

Light offsetting in map. Text generally clean, with only a few stray spots of foxing and occasional faint underscores. An about-fine copy, handsomely bound in period style.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
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Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
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Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
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