[EARLY TRAVEL ACCOUNT OF ARMENIA AND HIGHLANDS / BANNED BOOKS - CENSORSHIP] Hayastan: Shrjagayut'yunner yev usumnasirut'yunner. [= Armenia: Travels and studies]. Translated into Armenian by Lion Larents.

H. F. B. LINÇ [HARRY FINNIS BLOSSE LYNCH], (1862-1913).

Typog. [Tpagrut'iwn] R. Sagaean, K[onstantino]polis [Kostandnupolsoy - Constantinople], 1913.

In modern full morocco. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Armenian. 464 p., b/w plates and maps., 2 portraits of Lynch, bibliography. First and early banned Armenian edition printed in Istanbul (Constantinople) of Lynch's travel account of Armenia and Highlands. Original English First Edition published in 1901 as 2 volumes. Vol. 1 is the Russian provinces, 2 is the Turkish provinces. This Armenian edition contains selections from both volumes. "Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch was born in London in 1862, of Irish parentage. His family ran Lynch Brothers, a firm that traded with and ran shipping lines in Persia and Mesopotamia. Lynch had already traveled widely in those regions before their geographical closeness to Armenia, together with the growing importance of the "Armenian Question", attracted him to Armenia. Lynch later became a member of the British Parliament. He died suddenly in November 1913 of pneumonia. Lynch's two-volume work "Armenia: Travels and Studies" was published in London in 1901, and remains the definitive account in English of Armenia before the 1915 Deportation. An Armenian translation of the book was published in London in 1902, and another in Constantinople in 1913. In modern Turkey, the book was on the official list of banned books until at least the late 90s. "Armenia: Travels and Studies" was the result of two extensive visits he made to the Turkish and the Russian-controlled areas of Armenia - the first visit lasting from August 1893 to March 1894, and the second from May to September 1898. Lynch visited Ani ruins in October 1893 and his account of that visit, with the accompanying photographs, is reproduced below. His footnotes are on a separate page. The border graphic on this page is based on the decorative band on the binding of Lynch's book, was inspired by the vine-scroll relief on the church of the Holy Cross on Acht'amar island.". Source: Virtualani. First and Only Armenian Edition. Extremely rare. A censored and collectible item of Armenian literature.