Soldier and Traveller. Memoirs of Alexander Gardner,: Colonel of Artillery in the Service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. With an Introduction by The Right Hon. Sir Richard Temple.

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons,, 1898. Experiences of a freelance in the Peshawar Valley First edition of this extremely uncommon and highly sought-after memoir of the experiences of a freelance in the Peshawar Valley. "An adventurer and soldier of fortune, Gardner (1785-1877) travelled through much of Central Asia and Afghanistan before joining the service of Ranjit Singh in 1832. Carefully edited by Major Pearse, Gardner's memoirs tell in a rough-hewn fashion of his experiences as the commander of Sikh artillery in the 1835 conflict with Afghanistan over control of the Peshawar Valley. Similarly, Gardner gives an accounting of the bloody internal struggle for control of the Sikh State following the death of Ranjit Singh. With the imposition of British dominion over the Sikhs at the conclusion of the First Sikh War of 1846, Gardner's memoirs recede into the record of his retirement years spent in the Vale of Kashmir" (Riddick). Chopra, with specific reference to this work, considered that the work of Western scholars "rendered great service to the Punjab and their works still have great bearing on the language, culture and history of the region" (p. 48). Octavo. Original moderate reddish brown cloth, lettered on the spine and front board, dark blue surface-paper endpapers. Photogravure portrait frontispiece of Gardner (every inch the Scottish Sikh in tartan approximation of a shalwar qameez, talwar in hand) and one other portrait, both tissue-guarded, 2 full-page maps. Contemporary gift inscription to verso of first blank, largely illegible; publisher's compliments blindstamp on title page. Lightly rubbed, front hinge starting, but firm, clipped newspaper review mounted on the front free endpaper and first blank, two small patches skinned on front free endpapers from over-pasting, short split to fore-edge of title page and four following leaves, loss to top corner of pp. 137/138 not affecting text, where once folded, but overall very good in bright cloth. Howgego, II, G3, misspelling Gardner's name; Riddick 111: Yakushi P38, "Gardner travelled as a pilgrim in 1829-30-31: Srinagar, Gilgit, Chitral, Yarkand, Karakoram Pass, Shyok River, Leh, Dras River, Zoji-la, and Srinagar". Chopra, Maharajah Ranjit Singh and his Times, pp. 47-8; see Khurana, British Historiography on the Sikh Power in the Punjab on Gardner's reliability as a source.