Rare books from John Randall (Books of Asia)

Calcutta: Fort William, 1803. First edition. 4to (32 x 19 cm), pp.[ii], [ii, contemporary manuscript contents], 102, [ii], 28, [2], 12*, 126, [1], [1, blank], [1, errata], [1, blank], with 5 large folding plans, all with contemporary hand colour, 4 signed "F. Dormieux Sculp. Calcutta 1803". A very good copy in contemporary speckled calf, gilt. The leather somewhat worn, particularly at the spine, with small areas of loss, but still handsome. A handful of contemporary manuscript corrections and annotations to text. The account of the first part of the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803-1805) written by Richard Wellesley (1760-1842), then Governor-General of Bengal, in large part to trumpet British military success against the Maratha Confederacy, and promote his vision for British dominion in India. This depended on a network of subsidiary treaties and alliances with Indian states, such as the Treaty of Bassein, concluded between the Maratha Peshwa of Poona and the East India Company on 31… Read More

Moscow: K.S. Henry, 1866. First edition in Russian, 8vo, pp.[ii], vi, 322, [ii]. A very good copy in later half calf, marbled boards, spine gilt. Slightly foxed throughout, a few ink stains. Red Chinese chop on title. Russian newspaper clipping (1880's) about Mongolia and Baikal bound in at end. The Russian translation of Huc and Gabet's account of their travels undertaken in 1844-46, first published in Paris in 1850 as Souvenirs d'un voyage dans la Tartarie, le Thibet et la Chine, which proved so popular that it was rapidly reprinted and translated into several European languages. Évariste Régis Huc (1813-1868), a French Lazarist missionary, was first sent to China in 1839, and went on to travel extensively in China, Tartary and Tibet. In 1844, with his fellow missionary Joseph Gabet (1808-c.1850), he was ordered to approach and study nomadic Mongol tribes. Assuming the dress of lamas they embarked on an 18-month voyage to Lhasa, and were the first Europeans to enter the… Read More

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown; and Black, Kingsbury, Parbury and Allen; sold by J. Booth, [1811]-1821. First edition. Three volumes in four, 4to (27.5 x 21 cm.), pp.xvi, 606, [6, notes], large hand-coloured folding map; xvi, 716; xv, 483; (485)-998. A very good set in contemporary embossed cloth, gilt titles on spine. Professionally re-cased, heads and tails of spines repaired. Old wax seals on spines. A remarkably comprehensive chronicle of the history of Islam from the death of Muhammad to the accession of Emperor Akbar, drawing on Price's own translations from Persian sources, particularly Mirkhand, Khandamir, and Abu'l-Fazl. This was the first such chronicle published in English, and contemporary reviewers noted Price's methodical scholarship and his history's ambitious span. As a clear narrative history, with Hijri and Gregorian dates conveniently printed in the margins, it had no contemporary equal and remained a foundational text for English scholars of Islam… Read More

Brussels: Société Belge du Libraire., 1837. First edition in French, pp.xv, 239. An attractive copy bound in contemporary red quarter morocco, spine a little rubbed. The first French translation of the author's "Skizzen von der Insel Java", a general sketch of Java on the geography, history, customs, and governance of the island, and describing the customs and attitudes of Europeans living on the island, but without the superb plates of the original edition. Includes a vocabulary of the Malay language. Josef Jakob Xaver Pfyffer zu Neueck (1798-1853) was a Swiss civil servant, politician and author. His sketches of the island of Java and its various inhabitants from 1829 was considered one of the most important works of the time on the cultural history of Java due to their precise observation and clear representation of the country.

Calcutta: printed by A.H. Hubbard, at the Hindoostanee Press, 1810. First edition, an extract from Asiatick Researches, Volume 11. 4to (27 x 22 cm), pp.[ii], (197)-292. A very good copy professionally bound in yellow morocco, with title page supplied. The first substantive published account of the Sikh nation. John Malcolm began to assemble materials for his history while serving with British forces in the Punjab in 1805, noting that "English writers, none of them had possessed more than very general information regarding this extraordinary race..." Malcolm made his own observations and notes in the Punjab, and acquired a number of Sikh manuscripts. When he returned to Calcutta, he interviewed a Sikh on his religion, and acquired a number of English translations of Sikh religious and historical texts from John Leyden. The demands of Malcolm's duties prevented him from compiling a full history, but his briefer text effectively glosses the period from the birth of Guru Nanak in 1469… Read More