Trans-Himalaya: Discoveries and Adventures in Tibet. Three volumes. by Hedin, Sven - 1910-13

London: Macmillan and Co.. Good with no dust jacket. 1910-13. Hardcover. Volume One has the rear board almost detached, with the rear hinge broken and the cloth split along most of the rear joint. Volumes Two and Three have a darker area on the spine, and Volume One has the entire spine darker than one would expect when compared to the fading of the spines on the other two volumes. The darker colour seems be due to dye applied to the spine to cover up faded areas where labels have been removed, hence possibly an ex-library set. There are no other signs of being ex-library other than the unusual treatment to the spines. Volume One has chips and tears to the margins of the first leaf of the Preface, with no loss of text. Gutters split at front and rear hinge of Volume Two and at rear hinge of Volume Three. A few short 1" and smaller tears to the margins of some of the folding maps. Rear free endpaper lacking in each volume. A good working set.; xxiii, [1], 436; xvii, [1], 441; xv, [1], 426 pages + advertisements + 544 illustrations (388 numbered illustrations in volumes I and II, including frontispieces, + 155 numbered illustrations in volume III + frontispiece in volume III) + 14 maps (including 4 colour folding maps). Volumes I and II: Second printing, 1910. Volume III: First printing, 1913. [NB: These are second and first printings of the first English edition, not the smaller format colonial edition which had far fewer illustrations.] Red cloth boards. Gilt illustration on front board of each volume. Page dimensions: 224 x 148mm. Top page edges gilt. "The illustrations should be leniently criticized; with one or two exceptions they are from my own photographs and sketches. Perhaps they will give the reader some notion of the lonely country, the dizzy heights of the Trans-Himalaya, and of my old friends, the amiable, unassuming nomads." - from the author's preface to the third volume. The third volume is less common than the first two volumes. The third volume includes some historical chapters together with the account of Hedin's own explorations. Contents of Volume III: From the Source of the Indus through Unknown Country; The Nomads of Yumba-Matsen; Over the Indus Again; Over the Trans-Himalaya to Gartok; To the Confluence of the Indus Arms; In Dark, Dank Cloister Walls; The Last Days on the Indus; In Ladak for the Last Time; The Selipuk Monastery; The Models of Kyangyang; Over the Trans-Himalaya for the Last Time; The Trans-Himalaya in Ancient times and the Middle Ages - The Catholic Missionaries; The Jesuits - D'Anville - The First Englishmen - Ritter, Humboldt, and Huc; The Trans-Himalaya from the Middle of the Nineteenth Century up to the Present; A Critical Situation; To the Convent of "St. Sow'; Manasarowar in Ancient and Modern Times; The First Englishmen at the Holy Lake; The Latest Reports; A Dizzy Passage of the Sutlej; The Ravines of the Sutlej; A Picturesque Monastery; In the Sanctuary of the Mangnang Monastery; His Excellency the Churl; The First Jesuit in Tibet; Lamaism and Catholicism; In the Labyrinth of Tributaries; The Devil's Cauldron of the Ngari-Tsangpo; Down to the Sutlej; Farewell to Tibet; Between Sky and Water; A Learned Lama from Hungary; My Amazonian Escort; The Last; Index. [References: Marshall 2985; Yakushi H177c; Neate H68; Pinfold 95]. ; 8vo .