FRASER, James Baillie (1783-1856). Views in the Himala Mountains. London: Rodwell & Martin, 1820.

First edition of the finest illustrated work on the Himalayas, recalling the first recorded journey by Europeans through the region, amongst the most magnificent aquatints of mountain scenery ever produced. It stands as a stunning and eloquent visual record of the pioneering journey made by James Baillie Fraser, the eldest son of a Scottish family who travelled to India and there studied painting under the tutelage of George Chinnery, and his brother William, a political agent in 1815, during the Nepal war. They spent two months journeying through the region, chiefly exploring the river valleys but occasionally venturing to higher altitudes (where the party suffered from altitude sickness). The expedition reached as far as the sources of both the Jumna and the Ganges. The fine coloured plates were engraved by the Havells from Fraser's sketches made on the spot, and were intended to accompany Fraser's own written account of the journey (Journal of a Tour through Part of the Snowy Range of the Himala Mountains, 1820). Abbey Travel II, 498.

Broadsheet (670 x 550mm). Aquatint title, 20 finely hand-coloured aquatint plates by Robert Havell & Son after Fraser all on thick paper, mounted on guards throughout (light marginal soiling). Modern red half morocco gilt, green paper-covered boards, preserving the contemporary red morocco gilt lettering-piece to upper board (boards faded, light rubbing to extremities and lettering-piece). Provenance: Norman Bobins (bookplate).

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