TURNER, Samuel.
An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama, in Tibet; Containing A Narrative of a Journey Through Bootan, and Part of Tibet.
Rare First Edition of Turner's An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama, in Tibet; From the library of Adventurer Steve Fossett
London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co, 1800.
$3,500.00
Out of Stock
Item Number: RRB-111437
* Custom Clamshell Boxes are hand made by the Harcourt Bindery upon request and take approximately 60 days to complete
First edition of the first printed account of a British mission to Tibet and Bhutan in English, the only account available in English until 1875. Quarto, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, morocco spine label, engraved folding route map, 13 engraved plates (one folding). George Bogle preceded Turner to Tibet, but his account was not published until 1879. Turner and Bogle were both sent to explore the East India Company's commercial prospects with Tibet, and, hence, with China. Appendices include sections on Tibetan affairs 1785-93 and the Nepalese-Tibetan wars. Marshall 319; Yakushi T277. From the library of James Stephen “Steve” Fossett with his bookplate to the pastedown. American businessman and record-setting aviator Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in 2002 in his 10-story high balloon Spirit of Freedom. He completed the 2002 trip in 13 days, 8 hours, and 33 minutes and set records for both the Longest Distance Flown Solo in a Balloon and Fastest Balloon Flight Around the World. Fossett was also one of sailing’s most prolific distance record holders set the Absolute World Speed Record for airships with a Zeppelin NT in 2004. He received numerous awards and honors throughout his career including aviation’s highest award, the Gold Medal of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which he was awarded in 2002. Fossett disappeared on September 3, 2007 while flying a light aircraft over the Great Basin Desert, between Nevada and California. In very good condition with light toning to the text. Uncommon in this condition and with noted provenance.
"Samuel Turner entered history on the coattails of Warren Hastings, the British Governor-General of India, and Hastings' protégé George Bogle, the first English envoy to Tibet. Bogle, originally a clerk in the East India Company, was commissioned in 1774 to open diplomatic relations with the Panchen Lama (whom Turner calls by the alternate title the 'Teshoo' or 'Teshu' Lama). "Although Turner did not embrace Tibet as Bogle had done, he was acclaimed a reasonable diplomat. Trade arrangements were made, and a few years after his departure Tibetan, Bhutanese, Indian, and British markets were all able to offer each other's merchandise. Peking remained unmoved, however, and the opportunity for peaceful meetings with China was dropped when the Hastings administration ended in 1786. Before he left, Turner procured a yak for the Governor-General's private menagerie in England. "Turner's memoir of his trip was never as popular as the published version of Bogle's diary, but it nonetheless contributed both to the mythologized image of the Land of Snows as an inaccessible Shangri-La and to a truer perception of its position at the intersection of the world's great powers" (NYSL).
An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama, in Tibet; Containing A Narrative of a Journey Through Bootan, and Part of Tibet.
$3,500.00
Out of Stock