My Journey to Lhasa

1927

Special Collections DS785 D25 1927

New York and London: Harper & Bros.

The sub-title of Alexandra David-Néel’s autobiographical book on Lhasa is ‘The personal story of the only white woman who succeeded in entering the forbidden city’. In August 1911, dissatisfied with married life, David-Néel (1868-1969) travelled to the East. Her adventures had her living in a cave in Sikkim, Varanasi (Benares, India), and finally at Lhasa, Tibet. She was the first European woman to enter the city. While travelling, David-Néel adopted Tibetan dress, and was happy to beg, like other pilgrims. On returning to ‘civilisation’, she tirelessly promoted her three passions: women’s causes, theosophy, and Orientalism. The photograph shows ‘Lamp of Wisdom’, her Buddhist name, sitting in front of her retreat, Dechen Ashram, at 16,000 feet.