COLQUHOUN, Archibald Ross. The 'Overland' to China. London & New York, Harper & Brothers, 1900.
8vo. Publisher's blue cloth, Romanov eagle blocked in gilt to upper board, decorative Chinese dragons to corners, lettered in gilt; pp. xii, 465; portrait frontispiece, black and white plates and illustrations including some after photographs, 1 map to text, 1 single-page map, 4 large folding coloure maps; minimal markimg to extremities, minimal toning to and offeseting from tissue guard of frontispiece, otherwise near-fine, a few gatherings still unopened; contemporary bookplate of John Gretton, 1st Baron Gretton (1867-1947), Conservative MP, inside front cover.
Called 'second edition' on title-verso, this is actually the second printing of the first edition. It was quite challenging to travel this distance before the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway. Colquhoun believed that the rail connection, once completed, was 'destined to entirely revolutionize the Far East'. He therefore resolved to journey as far as the line had progressed - Lake Baikal - and then crossed the Gobi Desert to Peking. Moving up the Yangtsze Valley, he travelled overland to the Red River, and finished his route at Tongking.
Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica 2165.
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