FRANCKE, AUGUST HERMANN | Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1914-1926

FRANCKE, AUGUST HERMANN

Antiquities of Indian Tibet. Calcutta: Superintendent Government Printing, 1914-1926

2 parts in 2 volumes, 4to (11 3/4 x 9 in.). Folding map, 45 photographic plates, 5 folding maps. Contemporary dark red morocco backed cloth covered boards, upper covers gilt-lettered.

The first exploration into Indian Tibet

Dr. August Hermann Francke was a missionary of the Moravian Church and a distinguished scholar of Tibetan studies. On his return to Germany, he was appointed Professor of Tibetan languages at the University of Berlin. In 1909, the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Dr J. H. Marshall (later Sir John), had asked Francke, then attached to the Moravian mission in the Ladakh and Lahul area, to enter the service of the Survey for an eighteen-month period and carry out the first scientific exploration into Indian Tibet. Francke's knowledge of both the history and the art of the region made him the ideal expedition leader. The photographer, Babu Pindi Lal of the Archaeological Survey of India, was given the difficult task of accompanying Dr. Francke on his mission.

Published as volumes 38 and 50 of the Archaeological Survey of India (New Imperial Series), the two parts were issued twelve years apart, and therefore, are rarely found as a set.

REFERENCE:

Yakushi (1994) F179