Burrard, S.G., Colonel, & H.H. Hayden; A Sketch of the Geography and Geology of the Himalaya Mountains and Tibet. Part I: The High Peaks of Asia. Part II: The Principal Mountain Ranges of Asia. Part III: The Rivers of the Himalaya and Tibet. Part IV: The Geology of the Himalayas. First edition, Calcutta, Government of India 1907-08., Large quarto, four parts bound in one with preface. Part 1, pp.[ii], vi; [ii], 46; [ii], 8 plates of charts. Part 2, 4, 47-117, 1 blank, plates 9 - 22. Part 3, 1 blank, 2, 118-230, plates 23-37. Part 4, pp. 1 blank, 2, vi, 207-308, [1], [1, blank]; with 2 photogravure plate plates 38-49 and large folded colored geological map. (Some plates double page and photogravure.
The work is complete with all maps, charts plates present as well as index. Bound in a later green cloth with gilt titles. The binding is tight and clean the text and all plates and maps are crisp and clean. Stamp of the Royal Society of Victoria on title page edges. In very good condition.
The two famous authors provide a centenary review of the geographical and geological knowledge gained between 1807, when the first geographical expedition was made into the Himalayas to discover the source of the Ganges, and 1907, when the above four part work was first published in response to a proposal by the Survey of India. The subject is treated in four parts: The High Peaks of Asia, The Principal Mountain Ranges of Asia, The Rivers of the Himalaya and Tibet, and The Geology of the Himalayas.
Burrard (1860-1943) was from a prominent English family and was schooled in mathematics and joined the Royal Engineers. In 1884 he joined the Survey of India and would become Surveyor General. He played a major role in the “Great Trigonometrical Surveys of the Himalayas. in 1901 he produced the epoch-making paper known as Professional Paper no. 5 and called ‘The attraction of the Himalaya Mountains on the plumb-line in India’. Burrard had identified the source of errors resulting from the displacement of the plumb-line by the mountains.This paper corrected all of the previous surveys of India and conclusively proved that a massive mountain range has an adverse effect on survey instruments. In the research for his paper he gained an in depth knowledge of the Himalayas, and their form and character. His knowledge extended to all the ranges, rivers, plateaus and peaks.
He worked in collaboration with the English geologist and mountaineer, Henry Hubert Hayden (1869-1923) on many of his studies. Alone, and with Burrard, Hayden had published two pioneering works on the geology of the Himalayas in 1904 and 1907.
Together, Burrard and Hayden published the volume “A Sketch of the Geography and Geology of the Himalaya Mountains and Tibet”. The work is called a sketch but it is really a complete history of all that was then known about the Himalayan region. It is a wealth of information on the previous studies of the region up to 1907. The authors devote a good deal of space to an examination of the names of the peaks and ranges, the geography and geology and also to the determinations of heights and probable previous errors.
