Memoirs by Commander James Felix Jones, I.N. Steam-Trip to the North of Baghdad, in April 1846; with notes of various objects of interest en route. Journey for the purpose of determining the tract of the ancient Nahrwan canal undertaken in 1848. Journey to the Frontier of Turkey and Persia, through a part of Kurdistan. Researches in the Vicinity of the Median wall of Xenophon and along the old course of the River Tigris; and the discovery of the site of the Ancient Opis. Memoir on the Province of Baghdad. [etc]. Compiled and Edited by R. Hughes Thomas, Assistant Secretary, Political Department.

JONES (Commander James Felix, I.N.). & THOMAS (R. Hughes, Compiler and Editor).

Date d'édition : 1857

A propos de cet article

First edition. Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government No. XLIII, New Series. Folding table, 5 folding maps (3 of which are loose in the front and back pockets) and 25 lithographed views, plans and plates. Many of the maps and plates are hand-coloured. Large 8vo. Original brown cloth, as issued, neatly rebacked and repaired, retaining the original paper labels to spine and upper board; boards slightly scuffed, corners bumped, otherwise near very good. A few small closed tears along the folds to the large map of Baghdad, one corner missing from the map of the Tigris (not affecting the image). Endpapers browned and slightly fragile, interior very good otherwise. xxiii, 500, [1] [folding appendix sheet]pp. Bombay, Printed for the Government at the Bombay Education Society?s Press, A notoriously rare book, complete and in the original binding. Jones?s work is among the most important nineteenth-century sources on Ottoman Iraq, with a particularly valuable study of Baghdad, in which the city is described in granular detail, from its coffee houses to Najdian horses.The book is also beautifully illustrated with hand-coloured lithographed illustrations, chiefly focused on architecture, and maps. The large folding map of Baghdad is a spectacular achievement, especially so as it was based upon a clandestine survey by British officials who recorded its dimensions on their shirt sleeves.   Felix Jones joined the Bombay Marine at the tender age of fourteen and first saw service in the Palinurus surveying the northern part of the Red Sea, whilst a later commission found him engaged on the first British survey of the Persian Gulf under Haines. In 1839 he surveyed the harbour of Kuwait (then referred to as Graine), and this led to an almost continuous period of service in the Middle East, ending in 1862 as Political Agent in the Persian Gulf, in which capacity he planned the British invasion of Persia.   Memoirs? relates to his travels, surveying and archaeological researches in Ottoman Iraq, Kurdistan and the Kermanshah province of western Iran. R.M. Burrell, in his excellent introduction to the 1998 reprint (Archive Editions), stresses its importance and research value, singling out the Memoir on the Province of Baghdad for special praise: ?For historians, the outstanding paper in this volume is the fifth one? It is nothing less than an encyclopaedia of information on Baghdad in the mid-nineteenth century? (p.xxvi). In just under a hundred pages, Jones unfurls an abundance of intelligence; including lists of principal buildings, size of population (Jones estimates 60,000), diversity (communities, languages etc.), and lists of trades and occupations.   Accompanying Jones? notes on Baghdad is a beautiful coloured lithographed map of the city (held in the back pocket). Measuring 32 by 52 inches, it is remarkably detailed and accurate, so much so that ??in 1912 the Ottoman Governor of Baghdad made an official request for a copy, in order to assist with the implementation of various schemes of municipal reform.? (ibid., p.xxix). Though Jones? text is tight-lipped about the survey for the map ? which had to be carried out in secret, to avoid Ottoman suspicion ? Burrell reveals how it was done. He describes how Jones? colleague W. Collingwood, ??after walking down a particular street? would take a pencil and record on his shirt cuffs both the direction of the street and the number of paces he had just taken in traversing it.? (p.xxix, but see C.R. Low History of the Indian Navy, 1613-1863, London 1877, vol. II, p.409, for the original description). The present example of the map is in near fine condition, which is highly unusual for a map of such size.   The plates were printed on thin paper particularly susceptible to damage, but in this copy they are in a remarkably good state of preservation and the colours remain vibrant. On the plates accompanying the paper on Baghdad, Felix Jones remarks: ?The nine views of Baghdad which now fol.

N° de réf. du vendeur 219332

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Memoirs by Commander James Felix Jones, I.N. Steam-Trip to the North of Baghdad, in April 1846; with notes of various objects of interest en route. Journey for the purpose of determining the tract of the ancient Nahrwan canal undertaken in 1848. Journey to the Frontier of Turkey and Persia, through a part of Kurdistan. Researches in the Vicinity of the Median wall of Xenophon and along the old course of the River Tigris; and the discovery of the site of the Ancient Opis. Memoir on the Province ...
• Date de parution: 1857
• Reliure: Couverture rigide