Beschreibung:

Low, Captain James A Dissertation on the Soil & Agriculture of the British Settlement of Penang, or Prince of Wales Island, in the Straits of Malacca; including Province Wellesley on the Malayan Peninsula. With brief references to the settlements of Singapore & Malacca, and accompanied by incidental observations on various subjects of local interest in these straits. Singapore: Printed at the Singapore Free Press Office, 1836 FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, large octavo (250 x 152mm.), errata leaf, 2 hand-coloured folding lithographed plates printed in Calcutta by J.B. Tassin, original cloth-backed blue paper boards, later spine label, plates repaired, occasional spotting, boards somewhat worn A RARE SINGAPORE PUBLICATION. Captain James Low was one of the first Europeans to visit the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand, stretching from Phuket to the Malaysian border, as part of his mission as an officer of the English East India Company based at Penang. Born on April 4, 1791, in Scotland, Low graduated from Edinburgh College and started his career in 1812 with a cadetship in the East India Company's Madras Army in 1812. By January of 1819, Low moved to the East India Company's settlement in Penang and spent the rest of his career in and around the Straits of Malacca, where he learned the languages of Malay and Thai. Low was a pioneer in the study of Thai language, literature, and art as a Westerner and he published several articles and books on the Thai language, history of Siam, and Thai Buddhist art, law, and society. PROVENANCE:James Low, the author's cousin, presentation inscription from the authorCondition reportPlates repaired, occasional spotting, boards somewhat worn The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The