1876 Prejevalsky - MONGOLIA AND TIBET

Title: Prejevalsky's Mongolia and Solitudes of Northern Thibet.

Publisher: London: Blackwood's, 1876

Notes & Condition:    An expedient review of the highly anticipated first translation of 'Mongolia, The Tangut Country, and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet', the author captures the essence of famous Asiatic explorer Prejevalsky, as he reverently draws highlights from the recently published title. In itself an engaging succinct chronicle of Prejevalsky's revolutionary adventure into geographically inhospitable terrain of Mongolia and Tibet, and including passages from the book, this is a unique complement to the collector's volumes. Contemporary book review. 20 pages. These are the original pages printed in 1876, in excellent condition, attractively bound booklet style in modern blue paper covers with label.

"Mongolia, The Tangut Country, and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet. Being a Narrative of Three Years' Travel in Eastern High Asia," was first published in English in 1876.

The prompt and authorized First English translation of Prjevalski's account of his revolutionary and perilous expedition through the Gobi desert, to the Upper Yangtze and Tibet, undertaken from 1870-1873. Although he did not reach his final goal, Lhasa in Tibet, he discovered the wild camel and the only extant species of wild horse, now named "Prejevalsky's horse". He reached Lake Koko-Nor and the upper course of the Yangtse-Kiang. Whilst on this 7,000-mile journey 5,000 botanical specimens were collected, one-fifth of which were new. Also many new species of birds, reptiles, mammals and insects were found. Half of the route had not been previously surveyed. Prjevalsky was the first westerner since Marco Polo to enter much of the territory on his route, and he added immensely to the store of European knowledge on Central Asia. His work, written in his native Russian tongue, was published only months prior, in 1875.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky:
Prjevalsky (1839-1888) was Russia's foremost explorer in Central Asia and clearly served to inspire later travelers such as Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. He made five major expeditions, one to the Ussuri area in the Russian Far East, and four to Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet. In 1867, he was sent to Irkutsk in Siberia, where he began explorations of the highlands bordering the river Ussuri, a tributary of the Amur. From Kyakhta, Prejevalsky crossed the Gobi desert to Peking, then exploring the upper Yangtze (Chang Jiang), and crossing into Tibet. In 1870 deputed by the Imperial Geographical Society of St Petersburg to conduct an exploration of Southem Mongolia. From 1879 to 1880, he travelled via Hami and through the Qaidam basin to lake Koko Nor, then over the Tian Shan mountains into Tibet arriving within 260 km of Lhasa where he was turned away by Tibetan officials. One of the greatest explorers of Central Asia, Prjevalsky is credited with the Russian discovery of Lop Nur and the Altun (Altyn Tagh) range, the discovery of "Prejevalsky's horse" and the wild camel Hess. A town in the Tian Shan mountains is named after him.