Surgeon-Major John Macgregor — Through the Buffer State; a Record of Recent Travels Through Borneo, Siam, and Cambodia

London, F. V. White & Co, 1896 . First edition. Cloth. Illustrated throughout with photographic plates, this is the very scarce first edition of Surgeon-Major John Macgregor's accounts of his travels in the 'Buffer States' between rival colonial powers. A very scarce first edition. In a dark blue cloth variant, with depiction of an elephant to the centre of the front board. No binding priority is recorded.Illustrated with a portrait frontispiece, and ten plates. Collated, complete.Macgregor offers his observations after travelling in Borneo, Siam, and Cambodia, combining ethnographic and geographic observations, descriptions of local customs and landscapes, and reflections on political tensions.With a publisher's catalogue to the rear, dated January 1896.With a prize bookplate from Pearson's Weekly Magazine to the front pastedown. In a contemporary review, the Spectator commented that 'most of us would remember the description of the potentate, pensioned with a thousand dollars a day, who spends his time in the harem, smoking and drinking magnums of champagne&apos. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Bumping to back strip head and tail, with light rubbing to joints. Rear hinge strained, but firmly held. Cloth lightly age toned. Bookplate to front pastedown. Internally, firmly bound. Pages lightly age toned but generally clean, with only the odd spot. Very Good . Ill.: Not Stated. Very Good .