Lot 56C email save

FORBES, James (1749-1819). Oriental Memoirs: selec

Sign In to see what this sold for

London: for the author, '1813' [but later, some plates watermarked 1817]. 4 volumes. 4to (298 x 232 mm). Half-titles. Engraved frontispiece author's portrait and 93 lithographic, engraved or aquatint plates after drawings by the author including 28 hand-colored engraved plates by Hooker. Contemporary tan calf, gilt, covers with decorative roll-tool borders, with central panel bordered with single gilt rule and elaborate floral and stipple motif corner-pieces in gilt, modern gilt spines, marbled edges. Condition: browning and spotting to the uncolored and the aquatint plates, many plates have the usual offset onto facing text leaf; re-backed, some scuffing to a few covers, occasional repairs to board edges. Provenance: Lynn Abbott Trust. one of the most important records of 18th-century india. During Forbes's two decade residence in India whilst employed by the East India Company, he extensively documented India's flora, fauna, cultural traditions and architecture in painstaking detail, filling thousands of pages with his observations. Abbey Travel II, 436.(4)

View Bloomsbury Auctions next auction.

Similar lots up for auction