Au Kurdistan en Mesopotamie et en Perse. by BINDER, Henry (b.1855) - 1887

Paris:: Maison Quantin, 1887., 1887. Tall 8vo. 453, [1] pp. Map (printed in 4-colors), portrait of the author, 200 phototype drawings by Quinsac after photographs and sketches by the author. Dedicated to Le General F. Perrier. Large map of Kurdistan laid in. Original printed pictorial wrappers; some light edge wear. Very good. The rare folding map of Kurdistan (often missing) is present with this copy in excellent condition. Scarce. "The journey of which M. Binder's beautiful volume is the result, was suggested to him by the following passage in a work of M. Reclus: ‘Actuellement le basin du Grand-Zab est une des regions de l'Asie anterieure où l'on ne se hasarde de qu'avec prudence, c'est le pays de montagnes où vivent les Kurdes les plus belliqueux, c'est la que se sont refugiees les tribus nestoriennes, habituees au pillage, pour braver las pachas. Schulz, le premier Europeen qui s'y Aventura, fut tue a Djoulamerg avec tous ses compagnons.' / M. Binder, on making known his intention of following in the footsteps of Schulz to the Minister of Public Instruction, was charged with a geographical and archaeological mission, of which he subsequently made a report to the Minister, and the work we have before us is a development of that report. It gives the story of the travelers' adventures, and the results of the notes and observations taken on the road. We have followed with much interest the wanderings, often perilous enough, of M. Binder and his amiable compagnon de voyage – wanderings related with microscopic fullness. Fortunately they took with them a good camera, to which is due one of the most valuable features of the volumes, its beautiful phototypes of strange wild places assuredly never before submitted to the camera. The author and his friend had their full share of the usual traveler's troubles – rascally guides, interpreters who could not interpret, and baggage animals whose motto was that of Launcelot Gobbo's conscience – "Budge not." Much of their journeying was across desolate sandy plains and through wild mountain passes. They were often in danger of their lives, sometimes form the very guards provided by the Turkish Government to escort them." [pp. 525-526] – The Westminster Review, Volume 129, London, 1888. / The account leaves Tiflis, comes to Moussoul, to Nineveh and neighboring regions, etc. "On one occasion at least the party was in considerable danger from a number of ferocious Arabs, who attacked the kellek at night." The first leg of the journey ends at Bagdad, from which the group heads to Persia "thankful to be rid of the annoyances and worries caused them by the Turkish Government." A guide deserted them, but they sojourned on and arrived in Tehran entirely on their own. Their four month journey ends here. "The book is an important contribution to the study of the places and people visited, and the phototypes are simply invaluable." See: Arash Khazeni, Tribes and Empire on the Margins of Nineteenth-Century Iran, University of Washington Press, 2009; Wadie Jwaideh, The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Developments, Syracuse University Press, 2006. Extra Postage will be required.