MASSON, Charles [pseud. of James Lewis (1800-1853)]. Narrative of Various Journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, The Panjab, & Kalat, During a Residence in those Countries. To which is added, An Account of the Insurrection at Kalat, and a Memoir on Eastern Balochistan. London: Richard Bentley, 1844.

4 volumes, 8vo (217 x 129 mm). Lithographed folding map, 6 tinted lithographed plates, wood-engraved illustrations in text. (Lacking half-titles and advertisements.) Contemporary black calf gilt (neatly rebacked to style preserving original labels). Provenance: John Archibald Shaw Stewart (prize inscription from William Thomas Markham and Charles Henry Mills on his leaving Eton).

FIRST EDITION recounting the author's travels from 1826 to 1838 through Balochistan, Sind, the Hazara, Afghanistan and the Punjab. He frequently travelled on foot, penniless and in disguise, and was first thought to be an American or Russian using the alias of Masson; by the 1830s, he was identified as James Lewis, a deserter from the British army as Ludhiana. He devoted his 12 years' travels to archaeological and antiquarian studies through which he gained a vast knowledge of Central Asia, which was unique among Europeans. Abbey Travel 512.


Estimate $1,500-2,500

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