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Tibet and Lhasa. Photographs by J. C. White, Esq. C.I.E. Calcutta: Johnston and Hoffmann, [1908].
細節
WHITE, John Claude (1853-1919)
Tibet and Lhasa. Photographs by J. C. White, Esq. C.I.E. Calcutta: Johnston and Hoffmann, [1908].
Rare images from Younghusband’s expedition to Tibet, 1903-04, with an autograph letter signed by John Claude White and original envelope tipped-in. White's letter, to R.H. Morton, Lhasa, 6 August 1904 (on Tibet Frontier Commission paper) mentions a letter from Morton which he has forwarded to ‘the Chief Supply and Transport Officer’ regarding a ‘very large order’, presumably for White's photographs, as he goes on to state: ‘You can obtain copies of my plates later. At present I have not seen proofs.’
White's famous photographs of Tibet and Lhasa were the first such record published. A 1905 promotional catalogue from Johnston and Hoffmann states that the photographs were first issued in two formats, either individually, or in albums of half-tone or carbon prints. The company later issued the photographs in a pair of albums in 1907-8 with letterpress descriptions by C.B. Bayley; this publication was however withdrawn almost immediately for concerns that it gave British intelligence to the Chinese, and only six copies appear extant. Soon afterwards Johnston and Hoffmann issued the present smaller single-volume edition offered here, but it appears that this too was removed from circulation, hence its rarity.
White spent over twenty years as a political officer in the Himalayas and arguably the high point of his career came in 1903 when he was asked to join the Tiber Frontier Commission as Joint-Commissioner under the command of Francis Younghusband. The expedition included Captain Frederick O'Connor, who acted as interpreter, and an escort of two hundred Indian troops under the command of Brigadier-General J.R.L. Macdonald. The British officers' secret and potentially sensitive mission was to negotiate in favour of British interests in Asia, in the face of the rumours that the Chinese were about to hand over Tibet to the Russians. All the images in Tibet and Lhasa were taken on this historic expedition.
Oblong quarto (200 x 260mm), autograph letter signed (‘John C White’) and postmarked envelope from Lhasa pasted onto verso of preliminary free endpaper, 53 photogravure plates, including a folding panorama, 2-page preface, letterpress descriptions of plates, (occasional dust-staining and edge wear). Contemporary red cloth titled in gilt on upper cover, gilt edges (spine sunned). Provenance: Bonhams, India and Beyond, Travel & Photography, 4 October 2011, lot 528.
Tibet and Lhasa. Photographs by J. C. White, Esq. C.I.E. Calcutta: Johnston and Hoffmann, [1908].
Rare images from Younghusband’s expedition to Tibet, 1903-04, with an autograph letter signed by John Claude White and original envelope tipped-in. White's letter, to R.H. Morton, Lhasa, 6 August 1904 (on Tibet Frontier Commission paper) mentions a letter from Morton which he has forwarded to ‘the Chief Supply and Transport Officer’ regarding a ‘very large order’, presumably for White's photographs, as he goes on to state: ‘You can obtain copies of my plates later. At present I have not seen proofs.’
White's famous photographs of Tibet and Lhasa were the first such record published. A 1905 promotional catalogue from Johnston and Hoffmann states that the photographs were first issued in two formats, either individually, or in albums of half-tone or carbon prints. The company later issued the photographs in a pair of albums in 1907-8 with letterpress descriptions by C.B. Bayley; this publication was however withdrawn almost immediately for concerns that it gave British intelligence to the Chinese, and only six copies appear extant. Soon afterwards Johnston and Hoffmann issued the present smaller single-volume edition offered here, but it appears that this too was removed from circulation, hence its rarity.
White spent over twenty years as a political officer in the Himalayas and arguably the high point of his career came in 1903 when he was asked to join the Tiber Frontier Commission as Joint-Commissioner under the command of Francis Younghusband. The expedition included Captain Frederick O'Connor, who acted as interpreter, and an escort of two hundred Indian troops under the command of Brigadier-General J.R.L. Macdonald. The British officers' secret and potentially sensitive mission was to negotiate in favour of British interests in Asia, in the face of the rumours that the Chinese were about to hand over Tibet to the Russians. All the images in Tibet and Lhasa were taken on this historic expedition.
Oblong quarto (200 x 260mm), autograph letter signed (‘John C White’) and postmarked envelope from Lhasa pasted onto verso of preliminary free endpaper, 53 photogravure plates, including a folding panorama, 2-page preface, letterpress descriptions of plates, (occasional dust-staining and edge wear). Contemporary red cloth titled in gilt on upper cover, gilt edges (spine sunned). Provenance: Bonhams, India and Beyond, Travel & Photography, 4 October 2011, lot 528.
榮譽呈獻
Mark Wiltshire
Specialist