THROUGH ASIA / 2 volumes

New York City: Harper & Brothers, 1899. Hardcover. pp. xviii,1255. Royal 8vo. Complete two volume set in original cloth binding. The cloth on both volumes is bright and unmarked, although the spines are darkened, and the cloth of the spine of volume I has closed tears at both ends. Light rubbing to the edges. The front hinge of volume I is cracked although the endpapers are tight. Several pages loose (but present). The rear hinge of volume II is also splitting but nothing is loose. Contents clean and bright. First published in 1898, by Methuen, in London. This is the first American edition. See Nerhood, 'To Russia and Return' 415.Sven Anders Hedin (1865-1952) was a Swedish explorer and geographer. In 1885, he went to Persia as a tutor and was attached to a Swedish-Norwegian embassy to the Shah in 1890. He made many journeys into uncharted areas, particularly in the Himilayas (1893-1898), the Gobi Desert, and Tibet. This title records his impressions while on a journey to make astronomical measurements during the Anglo-Russian boundary dispute of 1893-1894. His account contains much information on the local peoples' way of life and contains two large folding maps - both coloured - and numerous black-and-white photo plates, taken by Hedin, as well as reproductions of some of his sketches.