Nine Luxurious, Lavishly Gilt Volumes on India, As Beautiful and Fine as One Could Imagine

HISTORY OF INDIA.

(BINDINGS - FINELY BOUND SETS). (INDIA).

(London: Printed by the Edinboro Press for the Grolier Society, 1906-07). 260 x 180 mm. (10 1/4 x 7"). Nine volumes (volume II bound without two-page Appendix IV) Jackson, A. V. Williams Edition magnifique, letter J of 26 lettered sets.

SPLENDID CONTEMPORARY EMERALD GREEN MOROCCO, lavishly gilt and with delicate scarlet morocco inlays forming a repeating peacock feather motif surrounded by Art Nouveau twining vines, all within a gilt French fillet, spine similarly decorated, raised bands, BROWN MOROCCO DOUBLURES with a central inlaid and gilt triple elephant motif within a wide green morocco frame adorned by gilt peacock feathers with indigo morocco inlays, unusually elaborate floral silk flyleaves, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. WITH 153 PLATES, including 72 photographic reproductions on shiny paper, and 81 plates in three states with printed tissue guards: one hand colored; one tipped on in black & white; and one sepia; plus numerous black & white illustrations, 68 of these being full-page; and one double-page map. Spines uniformly sunned to a light tan, but bindings otherwise lustrous and virtually unworn; one tissue guard stuck to the plate facing p. 150 in volume IV, a few corner creases, other trivial imperfections, but very clean and fresh, with some leaves still unopened.

This nine-volume history of India features a luxurious binding, with sparkling gilt and vibrant morocco inlays forming motifs that perfectly suit its contents. Intended to present the history of India from the "earliest times" through the British Raj, this profusely illustrated work was written by some of the most prominent Victorian scholars on the subject and edited by an esteemed professor of Indo-Iranian languages at Columbia University. Volume I, "From the earliest times to the sixth century B.C.," is the work of native Calcutta historian Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848-1909), author of major works on the cultural and economic history of the country. Volume II, "From the sixth century B.C. to the Mohammedan conquest," is the contribution of Irish antiquarian Vincent Arthur Smith (1848-1920), who wrote the "Oxford History of India," which DNB says "was to exert a vast influence over generations of students." Volumes III and IV, "Medieval India from the Mohammedan conquest to the reign of Akbar the Great" and "From the reign of Akbar the Great to the fall of the Moghul empire," come from British orientalist and numismatics expert Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931), praised by DNB as "a versatile writer, able to produce both academic reference works . . . and popular versions of his biographies and introductions to historical subjects." Volumes V-VIII were written by former administrators of the Raj, who had taken up Indian history as an avocation. Volume V, "The Mohammedan period as described by its own historians," was prepared by editors from earlier works by Sir Henry Miers Elliot (1808-53). Volumes VI and VII, "From the first European settlements to the founding of the English East India Company" and "The European struggle for Indian supremacy in the seventeenth century," were penned by Sir William Wilson Hunter (1840-1900), who spent 25 years in the Indian Civil Service before retiring to write about the history of colonialism in India. The penultimate volume, "From the close of the seventeenth century to the present time," was written by someone who actually lived key parts of that history, Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall (1835-1911), survivor and hero of the Indian Mutiny, lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces, and longtime member of the Council on India. In the final volume, editor Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson (1862-1937) compiles "Historic accounts of India by foreign travellers, classic, oriental, and occidental." All volumes are copiously illustrated with photo plates of life in Victorian India, many taken from Jackson’s own photographs, and with examples of Indian art, architecture, and crafts. Though unsigned, the spectacular bindings were clearly the work of a master, possibly Sangorski & Sutcliffe. The quality of materials, skill of finishing, and elaborate motifs are consistent with those produced by that outstanding bindery, or another of equal skill and taste. While the work occurs with some regularity on the market, it is extremely rare in such a beautiful decorative dress as seen here. (ST20132)

Price: $12,500.00