KRAFFT, Hugues. - Lot 244

KRAFFT, Hugues. Through Russian Turkestan. Paris, Hachette et Cie, 1902. Large in-4, [3]-VII-228-[2] pp. 70 plates, in-text illustrations and a folding map. Red half-maroquin, spine ribbed with title in gilt lettering, fine vellum covers with gold fleurons (binding very slightly rubbed at nerves and spine ends, a few freckles, light wetness on a few leaves). Only edition. Small number of copies printed on fine papier coquille. Illustrated with 265 photogravures, including 70 photogravure reproductions in black on heavy laid paper and captioned serpents, a large folding color map and numerous in-text engravings phototyped from the author's own plates. A well-written and documented work devoted to the Muslim kingdoms of Central Asia that came under Russian rule during the XIXᵉ century (Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva), covering territories in the present-day republics of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. French traveler and photographer Hugues Krafft (1853-1935), son of Baron Wilhelm Krafft, undertook a long journey to Transcaucasia and Russian Turkestan between October 1898 and June 1899, during which he explored and documented little-known regions. His account of these still very closed regions was a success, rewarded by the Société de Géographie de Paris and the Académie Française. He brought back some very fine photos, to which the editorial quality of the book pays tribute. Cordier, Sinica, IV, 2869. [Central Asia].