Voyages de l'embouchure de l'Indus à Lahor, Caboul, Balkh et à Boukhara; et retour par la Perse, pendant les années 1831, 1832 et 1833. Traduits par J.-B.-B. Eyriès

First edition of the French translation, illustrated in the atlas volume with 11 plates and 1 large folding map (cf. Hage Chahine, 720; Chadenat, 4227; Wilson, 35 for the 1835 English edition).

Contemporary Romantic bindings in aubergine half calf, smooth spines decorated with gilt arabesque tooling, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled-paper boards, and marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

The atlas bound in aubergine half shagreen, smooth spine decorated with gilt Romantic arabesque tooling, gilt rolls at head and foot, marbled-paper boards, and marbled endpapers and pastedowns; a modern binding executed to match the Romantic bindings of the text volumes.

Joints restored, occasional foxing. 

The illustrations comprise a general map of Central Asia showing the author's route and 11 lithographed plates: a costume of Bukhara; the Buddhas of Bamiyan, since destroyed; medals and engraved stones (4 plates depicting 31 subjects); a view of the fortress of Hyderabad on the Indus; inhabitants of Cutch in north-western India and Sindhis in traditional dress; the fort of Sindri on the eastern branch of the Indus; a ruin at Belur, between Lahore and Peshawar; and a ferry crossing the River Oxus, or Amu Darya, in Turkestan.

A lieutenant in the service of the East India Company, Alexander Burnes was entrusted in 1830 with an expedition into the interior of Asia. He crossed the Punjab to the Indus and continued via Peshawar to Kabul, where he was received by Dost Mohammad Khan.

He then travelled to Balkh, north-west of Kabul, and Bukhara, crossed the western frontier of Persia, visited Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, and finally embarked at Bushehr for India.

Knighted and promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1836, Burnes was among the men who contributed most significantly to the establishment of British rule in India and one of the earliest travellers to explore the interior of the Asian continent.

Provenance: "Duvaucel" ownership stamps on the title-pages of the volumes, possibly those of a relative of the naturalist and traveller Alfred Duvaucel (1793-1825), who explored India, Bengal and Malaya.