Falconry in the Valley of the Indus.

First Edition of an early Burton title, nominally a record of the sport of falconry as practiced by the landed gentry in Sindh, but also a significant record of their culture as the British sought to incorporate them into the Empire. The book features a remarkable autobiographical postscript. Never common in any form, Falconry in the Valley of the Indus was published by Burton’s friend Van Voorst and proved slow to sell. Van Voorst never gave in to the temptation to remainder the title and Burton continued to receive small amounts from its sales for some years.

Large 12mo. Original brown ribbed cloth, titles to spine gilt, rules to boards in blind. Housed in a quarter red morocco solander box with marbled paper boards. Frontispiece and three other full-page sepia tinted illustrations. Partially unopened, a fresh and practically unread copy, cloth unmarked spine only very lightly faded. Essentially a fine copy and rarely seen in such immaculate condition.