Böcker av James Baillie Fraser

Scottish explorer and author James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856) was already known for his narratives of travel in the East (his 1820 journal of a journey through the Himalayas being also reissued in this series) when in 1826 he published this account of his journey into the lesser known provinces of Persia. Though it includes an appendix containing information on geology and commerce, it dwells less on statistical and historical details than it does on the author's personal experiences and impressions. In his preface, Fraser summarily rejects factual material as 'insignificant', preferring to describe the manners of a people seldom encountered by Europeans. The work captures both the sights and sounds of bazaars and cities, and the characters of the people, from princes to peasant boys; and Fraser provides facts on topics ranging from rice cultivation to the architecture of ancient tombs and methods of cooling water.

Scottish explorer and author James Baillie Fraser (1783-1856) published this account of his Himalayan journey through Nepal and India in 1820. (His 1826 book describing his travels in the lesser-known provinces of Persia is also reissued in this series.) Part I begins with a historical sketch of Nepal, the reasons for the outbreak of war between Nepal and British India in 1814 and the course and consequences of the war. The remainder of the book describes Fraser's travels through previously inaccessible mountainous areas to Jamunotri and Gangotri, the sources of the rivers Jumna and Ganges. Fraser admits in his preface that he is not an expert in any of the fields which would give his account scientific value, but he offers detailed descriptions of villages, temples and 'grand scenery', and of a people 'as they appeared before an intercourse with Europeans had in any degree changed them'.