Record Number: 17313
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I have before me as I write a photo by Sir Aurel Stein showing the body of a man of Turfan buried fifteen centuries ago, and it is hard to belive that he is even dead. And the reason Sir Aurel suggests for this desiccation of Central Asia is, that not so much has the climate changed, as that in the past those areas subsisted in the main on the excess water given by the slow melting of the original ice-cap, since the actual snowfall must have been insufficient to produce glaciers of a size to give their requisite summer volume of water. And so it seems to me that that is to some extent the condition of Ladakh...'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1925 and 1928
Country:India - Ladakh, Western Tibet
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader:Martin Louis Alan Gompertz ('Ganpat')
Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:23 Feb 1886
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Military
Officer in Indian Army
Religion:Roman Catholic
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:India - Ladakh, Western Tibet
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
Ganpat served in the Indian Army from 1904 - 1939 and wrote some 24 books and 19 magazine articles/stories
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:unknown
Genre:Archaeology
Form of Text:Print: Unknown
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:17313
Source:Martin Louis Alan Gompertz
Editor:n/a
Title:Magic Ladakh: an intimate picture of a land of topsy-turvy customs and great natural beauty
Place of Publication:London: Seeley, Service & Co Ltd
Date of Publication:1928
Vol:n/a
Page:45
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Martin Louis Alan Gompertz, Magic Ladakh: an intimate picture of a land of topsy-turvy customs and great natural beauty, (London: Seeley, Service & Co Ltd, 1928), p. 45, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=17313, accessed: 18 July 2024
Additional Comments:
Major Gompertz wrote most of his fiction under the pseudonym 'Ganpat'. This and his earlier travel book 'The Road to Lamaland: Impressions of a Journey to Western Thibet' (1926) give his proper name after his pseudonym. 'Ganpat' was interested in the archaeology and exploration of Ladakh, its terrain, history, peoples and their religion and customs. He was also interested in presenting his travel book with a certain 'weight' by referring to Stein, Moorcroft and others.