BURTON, Richard Francis, Sir (1821-1890). Falconry in the Valley of the Indus. London: John Van Voorst, 1852.

8vo (191 x 125 mm). Half-title, tinted lithographed frontispiece by Ford and West after Josef Mathias Wolf, 3 tinted lithographed plates by B. Waterhouse Hawkins after Lieut. McMullin, 8pp. publisher’s advertisements at end. (First gathering partially sprung, slight toning and occasional spotting.) Original dark purple blind-stamped cloth, spine gilt-lettered, top edges trimmed, others uncut (spine sunned, extremities faded as usual, a touch of wear to spine ends and corners). Provenance: I.S. Kirtland (signature).

FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 500 COPIES PRINTED of Burton’s technical treatise of falcons and “one of the earliest of Burton’s books of travel” (Abbey). Burton’s fourth book and his last regarding his experiences in India, where he met skilled falconers and “found some time to engage in some falconry” as part of the East India Company Bombay Infantry (Rice). Abbey dates the publisher’s advertisements to 1851 (presumably the first state), while the advertisements in this copy include a "just published" work on p.7 dated "May 1st, 1852." Abbey Travel 479; Harting 66; McLynn, p.54; Penzer, p. 41; Rice, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, p.158; Souhart col.82; Spink 6.

Property from the Collection of Robert S. Brown, Cincinnati, Ohio