Poezdka na reku Chu k ee ustiu cherez bezvodnuyu postyniu Bedpak-Dala (A Journey to the Mouth of the Chu River through the Waterless Desert of Bedpak-Dala).

Omsk: The Press of the Regional Staff,, 1887. First and only edition. An extremely uncommon regional imprint - Omsk was the capital of the vast Steppes Region, today the northern part of Kazakhstan - reprinting an article from the journal of the West Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society regarding an expedition undertaken by Vladimir Karl fon-Gern. Gen. Karl Gern, fon-Gern's father, was president of the Orenburg Border Commission during the Kenesary Kasymov Rebellion (1837-47) - "the greatest challenge to Russian authority, and the most important event in Kazakh history in the nineteenth century" (Malikov, "The Kenesary Karymov Rebellion" in Nationalities Papers, Volume 33, 4 2005, p. 569) - and later found fame as one of the earliest explorers of Kazakhstan. Fon-Gern's expedition was significant as the first scientific exploration of the Bedpak-Dala, the largest desert in Kazakhstan, an isolated and inhospitable area, almost entirely uninhabited to this day. The highly detailed map covers the area from Astana [Akmola] in the north and east, the Sarysu river in the west, and the Chu in the south. Octavo, pp. 24. Large folding lithographic map at the rear. Wrappers renewed with the title panel and decorative border from the original retained. Wrappers carefully restored, light browning of the text and some chipping in the margins, no loss of text, a few short splits to the folds of the map, archival tissue repairs verso, but overall very good.