We guarantee the authenticity and completeness of all items (unless otherwise described), and are happy to provide a certificate to this effect. All items can be assumed to be in good condition, with any defects being described in our description.
We guarantee the authenticity and completeness of all items (unless otherwise described), and are happy to provide a certificate to this effect. All items can be assumed to be in good condition, with any defects being described in our description.
This route has its origins in the pre-Christian era as a means for China to export silk, precious stones, and other valuables, and later paper and gunpowder, thus changing the cultural and political history of Europe.
Today we are most familiar with the Silk Routes through Chinese ‘soft power’ as exemplified by the Belt and Road Initiative to connect China with the Middle East and Europe via the Stans, developing trade and influence on the way.
This route has its origins in the pre-Christian era as a means for China to export silk, precious stones, and other valuables, and later paper and gunpowder, thus changing the cultural and political history of Europe. The start of all this is generally ascribed to the Han Dynasty, but Alexander the Great also used the so-called Royal Road to expand his empire into Persia at an even earlier date. One of the best histories of Alexander and his expansion east is found in Wallis Budge’s Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, 1896. Our copy is most attractive, bound in the original cloth and hard to find thus.
This interaction between Asia and Europe continued for many years perhaps culminating in the arrival of the Venetian, Marco Polo, at the court of Kublai Khan in the late thirteenth century. His journey was also notable for being the first European venture into Persia since the Arab invasion in the seventh century. The standard account of his travels remains The Book of Ser Marco Polo. Originally published by Sir Henry Yule in 1876, the third edition of 1903, with additions by Henri Cordier, together with the 1920 supplement, is regarded as the best. Our copy is complete with all three volumes, including the supplement, and bound in the original cloth.
Within a couple of hundred years the Silk Routes lost favour as the Ottoman Empire, which controlled Western access began to impose taxes on trade along the routes. This led to an increase in seaborne trade to the Gulf and the East by the main traders such as the East India Company. One of the best visual records of some of the most important trading centres in the eighteenth century is found in Le Brun’s Reizen over Moscovie door Persia. This shows us Persepolis and Ispahan during the ‘Dark Ages’ of the Silk Routes. Our copy is a handsome example of the second edition printed in Amsterdam in 1714.
In the nineteenth century there was considerable activity along the route, although much of it was occasioned by Anglo-Russian rivalry in the area, with Bokhara being an important city. Joseph Wolff made a mission there in 1843 in a forlorn attempt to save some English prisoners. Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara proved very popular and went through several editions. Ours is probably a unique copy of the second edition with four of the plates specially hand coloured and a note in the book explaining how this came to be.
One of the most impressive of all Silk Route books is Les Mosquees de Samarcande. Published by the Russian Archaeological Commission in 1905, this was intended to be a much larger work but only the first fascicule was ever published. This is on the mausoleum of Timur (Tamerlane) and his family, and is of a monumental size (76 x 55 cm) which not only does justice to its subject but provides a detailed record of one of the wonders of the Silk Routes.
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The general narrative of Stein's first exploration of Central Asia, 1900-01. Crossing the Karakoram and the Pamirs he entered Chinese Turkestan an...
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A comprehensive summary of the results of Stein's first three Central Asian expeditions and of his researches carried out during the years 1900-16...
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Blackmer copy. Fraser was Resident at Surat from 1730-40 and then returned as Factor for the East India company, 1743-9. This work is important for...
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Special publication of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. A fine record of some the great archaeological sites of Iran as seen f...
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Bell's account of her five-month journey along the Euphrates. Scarce.Second edition, 8vo. xvii, 370 pp., frontispiece and 235 illustrations, large...
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First english translation. The first English translation of this poem by Jami and first translation from Persian by Edward Fitzgerald. Salámán and ...
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Eyre's record of part of the debacle of the First Afghan War of 1839-42. Following the murder of Alexander Burnes in 1841 the British force was be...
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Landon's work is the leading reference book on Nepal. Includes an account of the work of B. H. Hodgson in Nepal, and also the part played by Mahar...
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At a time when England and Russia were vying for supremacy in Central Asia, the author of this book attempts to show that Russia's aims were peace...
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An intriguing historical treatise on Afghanistan compiled during the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar which includes a dedication to the Prime min...
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A fine copy of Clarke's translation of the first part of Nizami's history of Alexander the Great containing Alexander's life and accomplishments. ...
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Hugh Murray was a well known geographer and major contributor to the Encyclopaedia of Geography. These volumes cover India, China, Persia and Cent...
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Richly illustrated edition. A fine set, attractively bound in polished calf, of this richly illustrated edition of the important accounts of Oleari...
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Rare limited edition. A fine set of the deluxe edition of a Himalayan classic, complete with all four volumes.Conway (1856–1937) developed a taste ...
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A comprehensive railway map of British India, including the subcontinent and Burma, also displaying the main road networks, navigable canals, stea...
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Arabia and India . Showing Turkey through the Black and Caspian Seas to Tibet and south to the Arabian peninsula and all of India. Jean-Baptiste Bo...
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Inscribed presentation copy. Abbott was an officer in the Bengal Artillery and was sent on a political mission by the British envoy in Harat to the...
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A tribal geography. Described in Bell's own words as a 'tribal geography', and published anonymously, Bell was annoyed by the general assumption th...
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The background to the India-China border dispute. A select annotated bibliography of printed material in European languages.First edition. 8vo, xx...
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The public perception of the East India Company, an organisation which was to become one of Britain's most notorious colonial ventures, was mediated by a collective of artists. Diplomatic wrangling, imperial posturing, trade and warfare became the subjects of a significant artistic movement, aimed at depicting and dissecting the Company’s involvement in the political and social life of the period.
The woods and rivers, hills and hollows of fiction constitute some of our earliest and most beloved memories: from the Hundred Acre Wood to the home of Mr. McGregor. Join us this Easter as we travel through the imaginary places and winding roads of children’s literature.
Welcome to TEFAF Maastricht: the fair that plays host to some of the most memorable treasures in the art world. With artworks that span over 7000 years, the event has an illustrious history, welcoming collectors and art loves alike for more than three decades.
This International Woman’s Day, travel from the political vicissitudes of Rome to the sun draped heat of the Sasanian empire, through cold moors and loveless houses, to gardens at the heart of England and London’s diluvian crowds.
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