| Evidence: | 'My instinct first led me to Dharmsala [sic], for many years the home of my uncle Robert Shaw who [...] was the first Englishman to push his way way right through the Himalayas to the plains of Turkestan beyond. Here [in his house] I found [...] books [...] and maps and old manuscripts. I was among the relics of an explorer,at the very house in which he had planned his explorations[...]. I pored over the old books and maps, and talked for hours with the old servants, till the spirit of exploration gradually entered my soul, and I rushed off on a preliminary tour on foot in the direction of Tibet, and planned a great journey into that country for the following year.' |
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| Century: | 1850-1899 | ||||||||||
| Date: | Between 1 Jun 1884 and 31 Aug 1884 | ||||||||||
| Country: | India | ||||||||||
| Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
| Place: | city: McLeod Ganj, village near Dharamsala ,Kangra Valley region county: (now) Himachal Pradesh specific address: unknown planters house |
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| Type of Experience (Reader): |
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| Type of Experience (Listener): |
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| Reader: | Francis Younghusband |
| Age | Adult (18-100+) |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of Birth | 31 May 1863 |
| Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
| Occupation: | soldier and explorer |
| Religion: | Evangelical Christian at the time later promoted his own brand of spirituality |
| Country of origin: | India, English parents |
| Country of experience: | India |
| Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
| Additional comments: | n/a |
| Author: | unknown |
| Title: | unknown |
| Genre: | Classics, History, Geography / Travel, possibly Robert Shaw's own published works and manuscripts on Central Asian languages and culture. |
| Form of Text: | Print: Book, manuscripts also mentioned |
| Publication details: | unknown |
| Provenance: | read in situ |
| Record ID: | 18516 | |
| Source - | ||
| Author: | Francis E. Yoiunghusband | |
| Editor: | n/a | |
| Title: | The Heart of a Continent: A Narrative of Travels in Manchuria, across the Gobi Desert, through the Pamirs and Chitrai, 1884-1894 | |
| Place of Publication: | London | |
| Date of Publication: | 1897 | |
| Vol: | n/a | |
| Page: | 1 | |
| Additional comments: | n/a |
| Citation: | Francis E. Yoiunghusband, The Heart of a Continent: A Narrative of Travels in Manchuria, across the Gobi Desert, through the Pamirs and Chitrai, 1884-1894 (London, 1897), p. 1, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=18516, accessed: 19 April 2024 | |
| Robert Shaw (1839-1879) was an orientalist and linguist as well as a government servant and explorer. While the nature of the books found in his house and read or 'pored over' by his nephew Younghusband are unknown, the evidence of reading experience points to works of travel, exploration and possibly Shaws own works on Central Asian culture and languages, as well as his 'Visit to High Tartary, Yarkand and Kashgar' (1871). Shaw was also known to have taken a translation of Herodotus' 'History' to Kashgar. |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)