Lieut.-General Sir James Outram's Persian Campaign in 1857; comprising general orders and despatches relating to the military operations in Persia, from the landing at Bushire to the treaty of peace [...].
8vo. (2), VIII, 419, (1) pp. With 6 maps (5 folding). Contemporary brown cloth (possibly faded from burgundy), ruled and decorated in blind, with title in gilt on spine.
€ 4,500.00
First edition: signed presentation copy of the privately published despatches and letters relating to the Anglo-Persian War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Taken together, the publication provides a vital primary source record of both the Rebellion and the events of the Great Game: the military and diplomatic struggle between England and Russia to control as much of Central Asia as possible. These documents were collected and authored by Sir James Outram (1803-63), a British general born to an English father and Scottish mother who spent his entire career fighting for Britain and the East India Company in India and Central Asia.
The first half of the book is dedicated to dispatches, such as reports of British killed and wounded soldiers, and the second to Outram's own correspondence, both formal and informal, between officers and the leadership of the East India Company.
Inscribed to "Major Anderson" (of whom there were several in the British Indian Armies at the time) and signed "Lieut. General Sir James Outram". From Anderson the book passed to the hands of the famous British journalist and historian of the Great Game, Peter Hopkirk (1930-2014), whose bookplate is present on the front pastedown.
A hint of wear, light foxing; altogether very good.
Wilson 164. OCLC 5431924.