HISTORY OF THE AFGHANS. Translated from the Original Unpublished Manuscript by Capt. William Jesse.

London: John Murray, 1858. First edition in English. A copy with good provenance being the Eton leaving present for Edmund Hartoff dated 1864. With finely engraved large folding map. 8vo, contemporary full tan calf, spine in compartments with raised bands ruled and bordered in gilt, gilt-stamped decorative device in each compartment, black morocco label lettered in gilt; covers bordered in blind and gilt, gilt-tooled on edges, marbled endpapers. xxi, 491 pp. A very handsome copy, clean throughout, fresh and especially well preserved. RARE AND IMPORTANT FIRST EDITION. Ferrier was a French officer seconded to the Persian Army and was removed from his post through Russian intrigues in 1843. In 1845 he left Baghdad in order to seek his fortunes in Lahore, where several of his countrymen were serving under Runjeet Singh. He was one of the earliest Europeans to give an account of the parts of Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries through which he passed in his book CARAVAN JOURNEYS AND WANDERINGS IN PERSIA, AFGHANISTAN, TURKISTAN, AND BELOOCHISTAN.
In this much anticipated follow-up, Ferrier expands upon the narrative of his journeys and creates a volume which relates the factual information and history he learned through his travels among the Afghans. He gives an interesting French perspective on the activities of the British in that region, as acknowledged by the English translator: “The Translator wishes to mark his sense of the frank and generous manner in which General Ferrier has spoken of the arduous services of the Anglo-Indian army in Afghanistan... The Author’s criticisms, when unfavourable, are generally well-founded; and though, no doubt, inaccuracies are to be met with in some portions of the ‘History of the Afghans,’ it is evident that they proceed from defective misinformation, and not from any ignoble desire to write disparagingly of the British Empire or our gallant soldiers.”
A rare and intriguing work from an unusual point of view.