The Rev. James Gilmour, M.A. - Among the Mongols - 1882

A fascinating book of Victorian travel and explorations, with 33 illustrations and map

Gilmour's account of his Missionary work in Mongolia which occupied almost 15 years of his life. James Gilmour [1843 - 1891] was Scottish missionary and preacher who first went into the Mongolian desert in 1870 & was on his way back there when he died of Typhus in Tanjin in 1891. Gilmour first entered Mongolia from China via Kalgan. He travelled throughout the country with a box of medicines, living with the Mongol tribes of the Eastern Gobi for several years. He writes on their home life, manners and customs, diseases, cures and superstitions, beggars, the "Supreme Lama" and the role of Buddhism, music and festivals.

The book was extremely popular when first published in 1882, the missionary loneliness of his travels being likened to the trials of Robinson Crusoe by one critic. The book contains much on the nomadic lives of the Mongols & of their Chinese & Russian neighbours.

Item Description
Lovely copy with 33 illustrations, including frontispiece ‘The Sledge Race, Hunting Wolves in Mongolia, Sheep Crossing the Tola’, 13 full-page illustrations, and woodcuts in-text (Engravings are believed to be from a Chinese artist in Kalgan). The book also included a full page map illustrating James Gilmour’s journeys on the great plain of Mongolia.

Published by The Religious Tract Society, London, ca.1882. Original brown boards with illustrations of ‘Mongol Horsemen and Traveller’ on upper board. Lettered in gilt on spine, and black title on front cover. Top edges gilt.

Book Dimensions: 19.5 x 13 cm & Number of Pages: 388 including appendix + 12 pages of publishers’ works

Condition
Very Good Condition – A well-preserved copy. Solid and well bound volume. Wear at extremities. Neat awarded label to paste down page. Inner hinges are very good. All pages are tightly held at the gutter. Pages are very clean. Plates are clean and bright (Nice Copy) (Please see pictures).