Lot 648: 2 Antique Books of Asian Exploration; Andrews, Huntington

Two (2) first edition books on the exploration of Asia by Roy Andrews, and by Ellsworth Huntington. 1st item: THE NEW CONQUEST OF CENTRAL ASIA… by Roy Andrews (1884-1960). New York: The American Museum of Natural History, 1932. First Edition, quarto, 678pp, 128 photographic plates, 3 folding maps, color frontispiece, in orange cloth boards, stamped in black, original dust jacket. 11 1/4" x 9". Full title: THE NEW CONQUEST OF CENTRAL ASIA. A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPLORATIONS OF THE CENTRAL ASIATIC EXPEDITIONS IN MONGOLIA AND CHINA, 1921-1930. Biographical Note: Roy Chapman Andrews gained national fame as an explorer for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He began his career at the museum in 1906 by sweeping floors and assisting in the taxidermy department. By 1934 he had become the museum's director. Andrews is best remembered for the series of dramatic expeditions he led to the Gobi of Mongolia from 1922 to 1930. Andrews took a team of scientists into previously unexplored parts of the desert using some of the region's first automobiles with extra supplies transported by camel caravan (roychapmanandrewssociety.org). 2nd item: THE PULSE OF ASIA. A JOURNEY IN CENTRAL ASIA ILLUSTRATING THE GEOGRAPHIC BASIS OF HISTORY by Ellsworth Huntington (1876-1947). Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907. First Edition, quarto, 415 pp. Illustrated with plates from photographs. Publisher's original green cloth with gilt lettered cover and spine, gilt border, red vignettes on cover, gilt top edge. 9" x 6". Biographical Note: Ellsworth Huntington (1876-1947) was an American geographer and Professor of geography at Yale University. His book The Pulse of Asia is based on his exploration of Turkey's Euphrates River Canyons in 1901, and his travels through central Asia between 1903 and 1906.

PROVENANCE: The Estate of John Z. C. Thomas, Knoxville, TN.

CONDITION: 1st Item (Conquest): Foxing to page block, penciled previous price ffep; jacket with chips to spine and 2" tear to top rear spine. 2nd Item (Pulse): No DJ, light usage wear, previous owner's name and stamp inside cover, one map pullout with chipping to fore-edge.