SIMPSON, WILLIAM & KAYE, WILLIAM JOHN
INDIA ANCIENT AND MODERN
A SERIES OF ILLUSTARTIONS OF THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE OF INDIA AND ADJACENT TERRITORIESFirst Edition
Two Volume Set
Year: 1867
Size: 21.5 x 13.5 cm (8.5 x 5.3 inches)
Published by Day & Sons, Limited., Large Folio.
Executed in Chromo-lithography from Drawings by William Simpson, with Descriptive literature by John William Kaye.
No. of Chromolithograph: 50 Chromolithograph plates after William Simpson, all mounted on card.
2 title pages printed in red and black, chromolithograph dedication (Dedicated to Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria & Empress of India.)
Simpson's views of India is one of the rarest of all the Indian view books and a fine record of the country just after the Sepoy Rebellion. Following the success of his earlier book on the Crimea War, Simpson was commissioned to produce an illustrated book on India to rival Roberts' Holy Land. Although he produced about 250 watercolours which he submitted to Day & Son, the project was reduced in size owing to a financial panic in 1866 which spooked potential subscribers, combined with the high cost of producing chromolithograph plates.
Simpson (1823-1899) spent two and a half years travelling in India from his arrival in Calcutta in October 1859 to his departure from Bombay in February 1862. Places he visited in the north included Lahore, Simla, the upper reaches of the Sutlej as far as Chini (higher than the Frasers had been able to explore), Agra and Lucknow. Simpson spent a few weeks in early 1861 with Lord and Lady Canning in Central India. While they were at Jubbulpore, Simpson decided to visit Rajasthan. ‘It was rather a wild thing to go off all by myself... The ordinary traveller who does India sees Bombay, Calcutta, Benares, Agra and Delhi, but the vast spaces between these noted places he sees nothing of. It is in these spaces that the real India exists.'
Bobins 269; Godrej & Rohatgi (Scenic Splendours), pp. 98-99.
Provenance : Collection of a Gentleman
About Artist
William Simpson (1823 – 1899)
Born into poverty in Glasgow, William Simpson was a Scottish artist and war correspondent. Without any previous formal education, he started as an apprentice in the lithographic firm of Macfarlane while attending the Andersonian University and the…...Read More
This is an auction of pre-owned and old items. Many items are of an age or nature which precludes their being in perfect condition and you should expect general wear and tear commensurate with age and use.
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This is an auction of pre-owned and old items. Many items are of an age or nature which precludes their being in perfect condition and you should expect general wear and tear commensurate with age and use.
We strongly advise you to examine items before you bid.
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