Beschreibung:

Title: Travels in Central Asia; Being the Account of a Journey from Teheran Across the Turkoman Desert on the Eastern Shore of the Caspian to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand. Performed in the Year 1863 Author: Vámbéry, Arminius Place: New York Publisher: Harper & Brothers Date: 1865 Description: 493 + [2] ad pp. With 12 full-page wood engravings including the frontispiece with tissue guard; folding map loose in rear endpaper pocket. 9¼x5½, original brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt. First American Edition. A Hungarian Jew, Arminius Vámbéry was as a young man attracted by the literature and culture of the Ottoman Empire including Turkey, and became a tutor of European languages in Constantinople. In 1861, disguised as a Sunnite dervish under the name of Reshit Efendi, he set out from Constantinople, and joined a band of pilgrims returning from Mecca, spending several months with them traveling across Central Iran. He then went to Shiraz, through Ispahan, and in June, 1863, he reached Khiva (Central Asia). He then crossed Bokhara and arrived at Samarkand. After many adventures, he made his way home in 1864. Lot Amendments Condition: Just a little rubbing to extremities; small patch of glue residue to title-page, still fine, a bright copy. Item number: 187727