Vambery, Arminius (1832-1913). Autograph Letter Signed [With] Autograph Note Signed "A. Vambéry " to Martin Wood, sometime Editor of "The Times of India " and the author of several books on India. With one original envelope addressed by Vambéry. [Embossed heading] Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, [London], 10 and 11 July 1892 respectively. London: 1892.

Octavo ca. (18 x 11.5 cm). 10 July, 3pp. Total four pages with one envelope with stamp. Black ink on laid paper. The letter, note and envelope are all in near fine condition.

This letter is an answer to a letter sent by Wood, in which Vambery says "In political questions of high importance, as the Central Asiatic is, diversity of opinions is very natural, and I am not the least astonished of [sic] the quite opposite view you exhibit in your letters. " He would like to show his respect for his views with a personal meeting, and asks him to suggest a time and place. [11July, one page] He confirms their appointment to meet the following day at the Athenaeum.  Note: Vambery, a friend of Bram Stoker's, is said to have been the model for Van Helsing, the vampire hunter in "Dracula. "

In 1861 Vambery, "disguised as a Sunnite dervish, and under the name of Reshit Efendi, he set out from Constantinople. His route lay from Trebizond on the Black Sea to Tehran in Persia, where he joined a band of pilgrims returning from Mecca, spending several months with them traveling across Central Iran (Tabriz, Zanjan, and Kazvin). He then went to Shiraz, through Ispahan, and in June, 1863, he reached Khiva (Central Asia). Throughout this time, he succeeded in maintaining his disguise as "Reshit Efendi, " so that upon his arrival at Khiva he managed to keep up appearances during interviews with the local khan. Together with his band of travelers, he then crossed Bokhara and arrived at Samarkand. Initially, he aroused the suspicions of the local ruler, who kept him in an audience for a full half-hour. Vámbéry managed to maintain his pretences, and left the audience laden with gifts. Upon leaving Samarkand, Vámbéry began making his way back to Constantinople, traveling by way of Herat. There he took leave of the band of dervishes and joined a caravan to Tehran, and from there, via Trebizond and Erzerum, to Constantinople, arriving there in March 1864.

This was the first journey of its kind undertaken by a Western European; and since it was necessary to avoid suspicion, Vámbéry could not take even fragmentary notes, except by stealth. He returned to Europe in 1864. That following June, he paid a visit to London, where he was treated as a celebrity because of his daring adventures and knowledge of languages. That same year, he published his Travels in Central Asia, based on the few, furtive notes he was able to make while traveling with the dervishes. Returning to Hungary, Vámbéry was appointed professor of Oriental languages at the University of Budapest in 1865, retiring in 1905 "(Wikipedia).