Skip to product information
1 of 3

ELPHINSTONE, Mountstuart.

An account of the kingdom of Caubul,

An account of the kingdom of Caubul,

and its dependencies, in Persia, Tartary, and India; comprising a view of the Afghaun nation, and a history of the Dooraunee monarchy.

Stock Code 112663

Richard Bentley, London 1842

Regular price $2,286 USD
Regular price Sale price $2,286 USD
Sale Sold out
Taxes included. Shipping calculated at checkout.
the first detailed account of Afghanistan by a western observer. Elphinstone collected important information on the geography, government, languages, manners and customs, education, religion, and tribes of the country.

As the global struggle between Britain and Napoleonic France came to a climax, the Indian authorities under the governor-general, Lord Minto, became increasingly concerned that a hostile alliance of Persia, Afghanistan, and the newly powerful Punjab, under the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh, might coalesce on the northern frontiers of British India. A French embassy was already in the Persian capital, and so in 1808 Elphinstone (1779–1859), an administrator who had originally gone to India to take up an appointment with the East India Company, was sent to treat with Afghan ruler Shah Shuja, and Charles Metcalfe was dispatched to make a defensive alliance with Ranjit Singh.

Elphinstone's mission to Kabul was formally a failure. Suspicious of the British, the Afghan court refused to allow the embassy to proceed beyond the border town of Peshawar. The present work, however, continued to inform British policy on the north-western frontier until the 1840s. (ODNB).

New and Revised edition. 2 volumes, 8vo, xxx, 422; xii, 440 pp., 2 hand-coloured lithographed frontispieces, lithographed plate, large folding engraved map, handsome red polished half calf gilt for Hatchards, foxing to plates, a very good copy.

Provenance

Delivery

We offer secure and express delivery on all local and international orders of rare books, maps and prints placed through this website.

About us

Shapero Rare Books is an internationally renowned dealer in antiquarian & rare books and works on paper.

Our Bookshop and Gallery can be found in the heart of Mayfair at 106 New Bond Street, where most of our stock is available to view and on public display.

We exhibit at major international art fairs, including TEFAF (Maastricht and New York), Frieze Masters, Art Miami and Masterpiece London, as well as antiquarian & rare book fairs including New York, Paris, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Hong Kong.

Read more

Ask us a question

View full details