Cabool: Being A Personal Narrative Of A Journey To, And Residence In That City, In The Years 1836, 7 And 8. Burnes, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander History,Military,Travel/Topography

London, published by John Murray, 1842. First edition. Octavo. (xii), 398pp, [2]. The final leaf is an errata page. Bound without the 8 page publisher’s catalogue found at the end of some copies of this work. Illustrated with 7 full page tinted lithographs and 5 woodcut plates, 2 of which are folding. An account of gifted linguist and East India Company officer Alexander Burnes' second mission to Kabul aimed at forging an alliance between Britain and Dost Mohammed Khan and garnering British support for his claim as ruler of Afghanistan. The mission ultimately failed and as a result, the British supported a rival claim by Shah Shuja. Burnes left Kabul in 1838 but returned as political agent in 1839. He was assassinated by an Afghan mob in 1841, presaging the British retreat from Kabul, one of the greatest British military catastrophes of the nineteenth-century. As well as detailing the political events and journaling the period of his initial three years in Kabul, the text describes in great detail, Afghan society and culture, the nature of its commerce and many other aspects of life in the region. Bound in near-contemporary half calf with marble paper sides and simple gold tooling on the spine. Frontispiece moderately foxed. Title page browned. Minimal foxing to 5 other plates. Lacking the 8 page publisher’s catalogue as noted above. Otherwise, a clean copy with the text block sound and the binding in very good condition. NB The price of this item is negotiable dependent on your chosen payment method. Further photographs available on request. Please feel welcome to make contact if you have any questions about this item or to discuss payment options. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall