Memoir of William Watts McNair, Late of “Connaught House,” Mussoree, Of the Indian Survey Department, The First European Explorer of Kafiristan.
Author: Howard, J.E.
Year: 1889
Edition: First edition
Publisher: London: D.J. Keymer & Co.
No date, but 1889. Blue original cloth gilt, oblong 8vo., pp. 83.
Cloth a bit rubbed and corners as well as head and tail of the spine slightly bumped.
Top edges cut, others uncut. Two photographs, one the portrait of William McNair as frontispiece plus another, both protected by a tissue guard. Added at the end is a letter in facsimile from Mr. McNair to Mr. Howard. Internally a remarkable fresh copy, which seems to be unusual for this book.
Just before his eighteenth birthday McNair joined the Indian Survey Department where during twelve years he learned all aspects of surveying, first in the Rajputana Topographical Party and later in the Mysore Party. Late 1879 he was selected to accompany the Khyber Column and a witness of the severe fighting that occurred before Kabul in the winter of 1879–80, followed by the defence of Sherpur, North of Kabul.
In Afghanistan he mapped a very large portion of hitherto unknown country, including the Lughman Valley and approaches to Kafiristan. An extensive article on his life and career can be found at Wikipedia
A fresh copy of a rare book.
