Central Asia; Travels in Cashmere, Little Thibet and Central Asia

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892. Revised Edition. Presumed first printing thus. Hardcover. Fair. vi, [2], 294, [2] pages. Frontis illustration. Illustrations. Occasional footnotes. Stamp of previous owner's/private library on fep. From the collection of Dr. J. E. Gross!!! Hinges have some weakness. Cover has some wear and soiling. This is one of the Illustrated Library of Travel. This may be the preferred edition. Bayard Taylor (January 11, 1825 - December 19, 1878) was an American poet, literary critic, translator, travel author, and diplomat. In 1848, Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, hired Taylor and sent him to California to report on the gold rush. He returned by way of Mexico and published a two-volume collection of travel essays, El Dorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire (1850). Within two weeks of release, the books sold 10,000 copies in the U.S. and 30,000 in Great Britain. In 1849, Taylor won a popular competition sponsored by P. T. Barnum to write an ode for the "Swedish Nightingale", singer Jenny Lind. His poem "Greetings to America" was set to music by Julius Benedict and performed by the singer at numerous concerts on her tour of the United States. In 1862, he was appointed to the U.S. diplomatic service as secretary of legation at St. Petersburg,[10] and acting minister to Russia for a time during 1862-3 after the resignation of Ambassador Simon Cameron. On July 4, 1876, at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Bayard recited his National Ode to an enthusiastic crowd of more than four thousand, the largest audience for a poetry reading in the United States to that date and a record which stood until 1961. Taylor's travel writings were widely quoted by congressmen. Thomas Stevens (24 December 1854- 24 January 1935) was the first person to circle the globe by bicycle. He rode a large-wheeled Ordinary, also known as a penny-farthing, from April 1884 to December 1886. He was helped by an interpreter at the Chinese embassy in London, who discouraged him from riding across Upper Burma and China. This experience contributed to his being engaged to revise Bayard Taylor's famous work. In revising Mr. Taylor's work great care had been taken to make no alterations beyond those made necessary by recent political changes and the developments of time and progress. The chapter XIX, Across Thibet has been added.