Lot 178: SVEN HEDIN (1865-1952)

Through Asia. London: Methuen, 1898. 2 volumes, 8o (233 x 160 mm). Plates and illustrations, some coloured, folding lithographic map at end of each volume. (Some spotting.) Original green cloth gilt with vignette on front covers, uncut and partly unopened. FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, GIFT COPY with author's compliment slip loosely inserted. A record of Hedin's journeys through Asia during the years 1893-1897, covering 14,600 miles, 'more than the distance from the north Pole to the south Pole.' Over 2,000 miles of this journey were through Chinese Turkistan, where he went in search of the sand-buried Buddhist cities and treasures of the Takla Maken, 'regions no European had ever before visited.' J.A. CRAMER. Geographical and Historical Description of Asia Minor. Oxford: University Press, 1832. 2 volumes, 8o (220 x 135mm). (Lacking the map.) Later cloth with original paper spine labels. FIRST EDITION, WITH STANLEY'S OWNERSHIP STAMP AND BOOKPLATE; together with Edwin Arnold The Light of Asia (London, 1885) in original cloth. (5).