Record Number: 18516

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Reading Experience:

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.'

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

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

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

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Source Information:

Record ID:

18516

Source:

Print

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://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=18516, accessed: 22 December 2024

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Additional Comments:

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.