KARAKORAM AND WESTERN HIMALAYA 1909 -- TWO VOLUMES 1912 First Edition

London: Constable And Company Ltd, 1912. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. FIRST PRINTING of First UK Edition. TWO volume complete set with all plates, all maps, all panoramas. Volume One: The main text/photo volume is in original green cloth with gilt lettering spine, top edge gilt. The volume is complete with all pages and plates, no repairs or restorations, no previous owner marks or writing on any pages, the gilt lettering on the spine has dulled such that it almost matches the color of the cloth, slight sunning to spine, tiny bump at lower outside corner front cover, solid binding, some minor foxing opposite plates with tissue guards, other pages have no foxing, plates have no foxing.. Better than average condition for this big, heavy book. The panorama/map volume, Volume Two: original green cloth, gilt lettering spine. The spine lettering below the title appears to be lacking, usual wrinkling to spine cloth, slight partial crease mark fromt cover (hard to see), former owner bookplate on front pastedown, pencil tick marks to list of plates and maps, paper-clip mark to top area of front cover of illustrations index pamphlet, no other owner marks or writing, Some plates have a spot or two in the margins (nothing major), generally clean and bright panoramas, maps are clean and bright without tears. Overall, this is a superior example of the rare two volume set. The book measures 273mm tall x 213mm. The two volumes have the following collation. Volume 1: 469 pages, 33 plates (5 are folding plates where two of these5 folding plates have two images per plate, and 2 of the 33 plates are color geologic specimen plates located in the appendix but not included in the list of illustrations), 194 in-text photos, 4 appendixes; Volume 2: case of 18 panoramas, 3 maps, photo list/index booklet. Neate's bibliography incorrectly describes the first volume as having 36 plates. How she arrived at this number is a mystery that is probably a result of confounding the number of plate images with the number of leaves that constitute plates. The "List of Plates" in the index booklet specifies 32 plates (including the frontispiece) but two of those in the list are images on the same single plate (i.e., the plate leaf at page 340 is listed twice in the index since it has two different images on it), thus making the total of plate leaves 31 in number. The two geological color plate leaves in the appendix of volume I are not noted in the index booklet. There are no other single leaf plates in volume I. The correct number of single plate leaves in volume I is 33 = 31 + 2. Neate's entry for the book is incorrect. Every seller claiming that there are 36 plates in the book is mistaken. We have examined and collated every page of more than 10 examples of the first edition. None had 36 plates; all had 33 plates. 33 plates is the correct number. NOTE: The panoramas in the case are lettered 'A' through 'S' totaling 18. One sheet has two images, those labeled 'K' and 'L'. Curiously, 'J' was not NOT used to label any plate. There has never been a panorama labeled 'J' for this book. It is NOT missing. The publisher's list of panoramas/index does not include a 'J' panorama. No example of this book has a 'J' panorama. None have ever existed, anywhere.There are no plates/pages/maps missing here. This set is complete with all contents as issued, though it does LACK the super rare dust jackets. See the lower right corner of the second image in this listing for the list of panoramas. This is one of the most celebrated books in the mountaineering literature. PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL ITEM BEING OFFERED.