Travels of the Russian Mission through Mongolia to China, and Residence in Peking, in the Year 1820-1821.
With Corrections and Notes by Julius von Klaproth.
London: for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1827 Stock Code: 121154
First edition in English of reputedly the first individually published Russian account of China, originally published in German as Reise nach Pekin (1825-6). Timkowski (1790-1875) was "royal overseer" on the tenth Russian mission to Peking, where the Russian government had maintained a school and church since 1728. His account is notable for its detailed description of his itinerary, in particular for the section of the journey made through the pass of Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) on the border between Mongolia and China. According to the translator's preface, the only earlier Russian travel-account of China to have been published was the journal of Lawrence Lange, who accompanied the mission in 1727, though that work was published as part of Pallas's Nordische Beiträge. The translator was Hannibal Evans Lloyd, who worked from the French edition published earlier the same year. Klaproth (1783-1835) was an accomplished German orientalist and a specialist in Caucasian languages.
Description
2 volumes, octavo (224 x 139 mm). Mid-20th-century red half calf, raised bands between gilt rules to spines, compartments lettered in gilt, red cloth sides, edges untrimmed.
Illustrations
Lithographic frontispiece to each volume (that in vol. 2 a folding chart of Peking), folding map.
Condition
Recent bookplates of Robert and Eve Gregory, Walterston. Spotting to edges, prelims and occasionally to text block, mainly restricted to the margins only, a few other marks, map foxed, with a short split along central fold. A good copy.
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