An account of an embassy to the court of the Teshoo Lama, in Tibet : containing a narrative of a journey through Bootan, and part of Tibet / by Captain Samuel Turner ; to which are added, views taken on the spot, by Lieutenant Samuel Davis ; and observations botanical, mineralogical, and medical, by Mr. Robert Saunders

Some of the plates signed: Lieut. S Davis del, James Basire sc. One aquatint by De la Motte after Stubbs English Short Title Catalog, T136507 Also available online. SCNHRB copy (39088002739761) imperfect: lacking plate "The Palace of Punukka in Bootan." SCNHRB copy provenance: Book Club, Boston (no evidence remaining with the rebinding). SCNHRB copy in modern quarter binding of light brown goatskin and cloth. Elecresource In 1783, at the opportunity presented by a new Panchen (or Teshoo) Lama, Bengal governor-general Warren Hastings sent a deputation to Tibet and Bhutan in the hope of promoting British-Indian trade across the Himalayas. Samuel Turner (1759-1802), an army officer in the East India Company, was appointed leader of the mission. His journal, offering first-hand descriptions of these countries, was originally published in 1800 and remained the only such English-language work for more than half a century. Assisted by the botanist and surgeon Robert Saunders and the surveyor and illustrator Samuel Davis, Turner interweaves geographical and scientific observations with descriptions of social and religious customs; the vivid account of his reception by the infant Panchen Lama is of particular note. The introduction sketches the history of Bengal-Bhutan relations and George Bogle's prior mission, while later sections deal with Tibet and the influence of China. This was and remains an invaluable account of eighteenth-century diplomacy