Bower (Hamilton). Diary of a Journey Across Tibet, 1st edition, 1894

Bower (Hamilton). Diary of a Journey Across Tibet, 1st edition, London: Rivington, Percival and Co, 1894, ownership inscription of John Bower (the author's brother) to half-title, frontispiece, folding map (frayed with small loss), 29 full-page and smaller illustrations, hinges cracked, sewing loosened with text block separated in places, original green pictorial cloth, rubbed with some wear to extremities, 8vo (Quantity: 1) Yakushi B533. In 1891 Hamilton Bower and Dr. W. G. Thorold, at the instigation of the British Indian intelligence service, travelled 1200 miles across the Tibetan plateau through unknown country, at an average elevation of 19000 feet, despite being deserted by their guides, their food supplies giving out and almost all their transport animals dying. The Indian sub-surveyor Atma Ram accompanied Bower and Thorold and made an important map of the region which is reproduced in the book. Bower was the first European to cross the Tibetan plateau, for which he was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.