Turner, Samuel

An account of an embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama, in Tibet; containing a narrative of a journey through Bootan, and part of Tibet ... To which are added, views taken on the spot, by Lieutenant Samuel Davis; and observations botanical, mineralogical, and medical, by Mr. Robert Saunders.

London, printed by W. Bulmer & Co. for Messrs. G. & W. Nicol, 1800. 4to. xxviii + 474 pp. + 12 engraved views + 1 folding engraved plate + 1 folding engraved map. Engraved illustration on p. 26. Recent half cloth with marbled boards, original marbled thick wrappers bound in, engraved bookplate of the Earl of Aylesford. Some offsetting from engravings on facing text page. The first book in English on Tibet. First edition. The primary source for the study of Turner’s mission.
The book also contains an account of affairs in Tibet 1785–1793, including an account of the Nepalese-Tibetan war of 1788 to 1792. Samuel Turner was an officer in the East India Company, and a relative of Warren Hastings, who despatched him to congratulate the lamaist regency on the birth of the reincarnated grand lama of Tibet. It was the occasion of the second embassy from the government of Bengal to Tibet, and Turner was successful in negotiating trading rights with the Regent Chanjoo Cooshoo. The views were engraved by James Basire after Samuel Davis, whose drawings were made on the spot. Julie G. Marshall, Britain and Tibet 1765—1947, 319. Lust 208. Cordier, BS, 4, col. 2909 (records the second edition, 1806). Kuløy & Imaeda 10458.

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