BURNES, Alexander (1805-1841). Travels into Bokhara. London, 1834. Second (first octavo) edition.
3 volumes, 8vo (214 x 136 mm). 3 lithographed plates (1 folding), 5 engraved plates. (Some light spotting to plates.) Late 19th-century half red morocco, marbled boards.FIRST EDITION. Following a successful expedition up the Indus at the age of 26, Burnes obtained permission for an expedition to Kabul and Bokhara. In 1832 he travelled to Kabul, ruled by Dost Mohammed, and passed over the Hindu Kush to Balkh, where he found the graves of Trebeck, Moorcroft and Guthrie. By way of the Oxus, and the desert crossing he finally reached Bokhara where he received a welcome from the vizier Koosh Begee. After one month there he returned by way of Merv, to the Persian Gulf and finally Bombay. He received a hero's welcome when sent to London to report on his findings, and received an audience with the King. ''John Murray... was quick to acquire Burnes's account of his journey... It was rushed through the press so as to steal a march on Arthur Conolly's book, which appeared a few months later, and Moorcroft's long-delayed posthumous work... [It] brought to the reader for the first time the romance, mystery and excitement of Central Asia. It was to prove an immediate bestseller, 900 copies being sold on the first day.'' (, p.151). His book caused a sensation in Europe and won him the R. G. S. Gold Medal, after which he became universally known as "Bokhara Burnes." Yakushi B302.
