Lot 154
Conolly, Arthur
Journey to the North of India, overland from England, through Russia, Persia, and Affghaunistaun
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 07 February 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
London: Richard Bentley, 1834. First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo (21 x 13cm), contemporary half calf, etched frontispiece to each volume, folding lithographic map, advertisement leaf discarded, bindings a little worn, spotting, volume 1 spine-label renewed, 1 frontispiece extended along inner margin costing imprint and description but with original title laid down, map with old repair to short closed tear
(2)
Footnote
THE LIBRARY OF DR ANDREW G. FRASER MD FSA SCOT (1937-2020)
Arthur Conolly, an officer in the army of the East India Company, decided in 1829 to return to India from sick leave in England via the overland route through central Asia. Reaching Asterabad (modern Gorgan) in Persia, 'he disguised himself as an Asian merchant, with a stock of furs and shawls, hoping to reach Khiva. He left Asterabad for the Turkoman steppes on 26th April 1830, but when the little caravan to which he attached himself was about halfway between Krasnovodsk and Kizil Arvat he was seized by nomads and robbed. The Turkomans were undecided whether to kill him or sell him into slavery. Tribal jealousies in the end secured his release, and he returned to Asterabad on 22nd May 1830, from where he travelled to India by way of Mashhad, Herat, and Kandahar, visiting Sind, and finally crossing the Indian frontier in January 1831' (ODNB). He is remembered for coining the term the 'Great Game', and after a long period of imprisonment in Bukhara was eventually executed on the orders of the amir, along with British envoy Colonel Charles Stoddart.