Marsden, Kate

On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers [SIGNED]

New York: Cassell Publishing, 1892.

First American Edition. Hardcover. Very good. xvii, 291 pp, with two facsimile letters, many illustrations from photographs, map of the route traversed. Original brown cloth with decoration in gilt. Light dust soiling, faded spot on lower spine, otherwise a lovely copy. Inscribed on a front blank: "Praying our lord bless us each one in the work for His poor sick and suffering ones, Kate Marsden, July[?] 1893." A trained nurse, Marsden (1859-1931) was sent to Bulgaria to care for casualties of the Russo-Turkish war in 1877. There she first observed the sufferings of lepers and also heard rumors of an herb reputed to offer a cure for the disease. This herb was said to be found only in northern Siberia, and Marsden was determined to go find it and make it available to the world. After some years of additional travel and research, in 1890 she finally set off for Moscow, where she gained an audience with the Tsarina and an official letter sanctioning her trip. The journey across Russia (by train, sledge, horseback, and boat) was rugged and difficult, "but after several months she reached Yakutsk, the capital of the Yakutia region in northern Siberia. From there she rode 2000 miles on horseback to Viluisk, then traveled around visiting the scattered groups of leprosy sufferers...whose living conditions appalled her" (McVicker, Women Adventurers). Although she failed to bring back the curative herb, Marsden did succeed in bringing new attention the plight of lepers through this book and the lectures she gave on her return to London. In 1892, she became one of the first women elected to the Royal Geographical Society.

Item #15151

Sold