Sarawak; its inhabitants and productions: being notes during a residence in that country with His Excellency Mr Brooke de Low, Hugh - 1848

First edition. First issue. Richard Bentley, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. London. 1848. Crown 8vo. xxiv, 416pp, 6pp manuscript index bound in. Engraved frontis., 6 further plates. Later rebacking using original red cloth embossed boards, bumped with shelf wear to extremities. Some foxing to plates, occasional spotting to text. Marginal tear 170. Last page chipped to upper corner. Occasional marginal pencil annotation, in the same hand as index.

Inscribed to title page "To Edw. Thomas" [indecipherable: Glansevern? Glansevin?]

Low, Sir Hugh (1824–1905), botanist and colonial administrator. "Low became closely associated with James Brooke, who was then establishing his regime in Sarawak. Low also travelled widely in north Borneo and acquired exceptional knowledge of the land and people, which he demonstrated in his book Sarawak: its Inhabitants and Productions." Low developed a twelve-acre garden with a choice selection of plants. He made the first documented climb of Mount Kinabalu, the highest in Borneo, and repeated the climb three times, partly to collect specimens. ODNB