BURNES, Alexander "Sekundar"

Cabool; A Personal Narrative of of a Journey to, and Residence in That City, In the years 1836, 7, and 8.

Karachi: Indus Publications, 1986. Stated Second Edition. Octavo. 21.5cm. Publisher's grey cloth spine titled in black, over decorated paper covered boards. Dustjacket. 317pp. [12 unnumbered leaves of plates, some folding]. A little bumping to corners and spine ends, tight and strong, nicely produced; internally clean, patterned endpapers, bookplate to front pastedown; in a strong, although clearly very cheaply produced dustjacket with some wear and shallow chipping to the spine ends, and some creasing to the spine panel. A very good copy of a nicely, if cheaply, produced book.

A reprinting of the 1842 first edition, in a Pakistani printing, or Burnes' account of his time as an impromptu British "Exploring Officer", essentially an intelligence agent wandering unchecked through wild and interesting places. In Burnes' case it was the North West Frontier of the 1830's, an area of continual infighting, border wars, ancient grievances and alliances, and the scene of the most heated intelligence battle between The British Empire, and Imperial Russia. "Cabool" was published posthumously after Burnes' death, along with his younger brother and the political officer William Broadfoot, in an attack upon the Khabul Residency. Burnes, by far the better informed man on the ground in Afghanistan, had supported the appointment of Dost Mohammed as ruler in Khabul; considering him the best option for peace (and more importantly prosperity) in the region. Burnes' political and military superior Sir William Macnaghten however, favored the reinstatement of the divisive Shah Shuja. The following unrest cost the lives of the Cabool Residency staff and officers, and was the beginning of what we know refer to as The First Anglo-Afghan War. Burnes was one of that peculair breed of British officer who was more at home in Bokhara than Bermondsey, and whose life found both place and meaning living and travelling among the Muslim and the Hindu that he could perhaps not have found travelling alongside men like Macnaghten and Palmerston who, in essence, hung him and his kind out to dry. Burnes' last stand at the Residency can be traced as one of the earlier examples of the celebrated trope of British military personnel facing their imminent destruction with a politely murmured request to pass the port in the correct direction. The 1842 edition is obviously pretty well represented, this Pakistan edition however has only scant representation in institutions (3 copies in US).

Price: $75.00

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