THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO VISIT KABUL
VIGNE, Godfrey Thomas.
A personal narrative of a visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan, and of a residence at the court of Dost Mohamed: with notices of Runjit Sing, Khiva, and the Russian expedition ... with illustrations, from drawings made by the author on the spot.
London, Whittaker & Co., 1840.
8vo, pp. xiii, [3], 479, [1, publisher’s advertisements]; with coloured frontispiece of Dost Mohamed Khan, folding map of author’s route, 6 tinted lithographed plates, and 12 woodcut illustrations within text; a little light foxing to plates and title, short split between title and frontispiece; an excellent, crisp and clean copy in original green cloth, covers blocked in blind, gilt-lettered spine, yellow endpapers; spine slightly faded, slightly bumped at spine ends; ink inscription dated May 1840 to front free endpaper, armorial bookplate of William Margetts to title verso, from the library of Franklin Brooke-Hitching; preserved in a morocco and marbled paper slipcase.
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A personal narrative of a visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and Afghanistan, and of a residence at the court of Dost Mohamed: with notices of Runjit Sing, Khiva, and the Russian expedition ... with illustrations, from drawings made by the author on the spot.
First edition, a handsome copy. Vigne (1801-63) left Southampton for India in 1832, ‘and, after passing through Persia, spent the next seven years travelling north-west of India. He visited Kashmir, Ladakh, and other parts of central Asia, besides travelling through Afghanistan, where he had several interviews with the emir, Dost Mohammed. Vigne was described by Boase as the first Englishman to visit Kabul ... Vigne described his travels in A Personal Narrative ... (1840) and Travels in Kashmir (1842). These two books give a valuable view of northern and western India before the establishment of British supremacy’ (ODNB).
From Peshawar, Vigne ‘crossed into Afghanistan in the Gomal area, south of the Khyber Pass, and made his way to Ghazni and thence to Kabul before returning to Peshawar’ (Yakushi).
Abbey Travel 505; Yakushi V39.
