Lot 60 Details

Absolute Tuesdays: Old Maps and Vintage Prints 13 February 2024

William Faden

The Southern...

Later hand-coloured copper engraving on paper

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A two-sheet map of southern India printed from two copperplates on two sheets of paper that displays the routes taken by the British armies under the command of Colonels Fullerton and Humberston in the 1782–1784 campaigns.

Left side: This map has the watermark of a crowned bird, wings spread, standing on branch with two twigs [similar to Heawood 196 but clearer]; countermark: MONTGOLFIER and 8 and 7
33.5 x 19.6 in (85.1 x 49.8 cm) (neatline)
34.2 x 19.9 in (86.9 x 50.7 cm) (image)
[cropped] x 52.5 cm (platemark)
34.5 x 21.6 in (87.8 x 55.1 cm) (sheet)
With mount: 41.5 x 26.7 in (105.5 x 68 cm)

At top right, in cartouche representing a rectangle of material pinned to the map. An explanation at bottom left reads: a key to the symbols for forts, villages, pagodas and those roads which had been measured with a gunter's chain, and a key to the colours denoting the British and French possessions and the routes for the separate years.

Right side: This map has the watermark of a crowned bird facing right, wings spread, standing on branch with two twigs [similar to Heawood 196 but clearer]; countermark: MONTGOLFIER and 8 and 9
33.3 x 19.6 in (84.8 x 49.8 cm) (neatline)
34 x 19.9 in (86.6 x 50.7 cm) (image)
cropped (platemark)
34.7 x 21.1 in (88.2 x 53.8 cm) (sheet)
With mount: 41.5 x 26.7 in (105.5 x 68 cm)

This amazing and extremely rare detailed folding wall map shows the battleground of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, which pitted the forces of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan of Mysore against the British East India Company's soldiers.

In Indian history, the Second Anglo-Mysore War is regarded as being extremely significant. At the Treaty of Mangalore, the British East India Company in Madras was given the command by London to make peace with Tipu Sultan, marking the final instance in which an Indian potentate could impose conditions on the British. There were ultimately four Anglo-Mysore Wars, and they had a significant impact on the histories of England, India, and the Napoleonic Wars.

The map in the present lot was released in order to provide context for the British East India Company's operations between 1780 and 1784 during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. In 1791, it was printed for William Faden and offered for sale at his location. Faden was a very successful map maker who capitalised on the public's curiosity about events in the remote corners of the newly emerging British Empire. Given that the Third Anglo-Mysore War was raging at the time this map was released, it is highly likely that he also capitalised on the zeitgeist.

The surveys conducted by Captain Wersebe, Col. Kelly, and their staff served as the basis for the map. The principal British commanders' march routes of Col. Humberston, Col. Fullerton, and Sir Eyre Coote's columns during the Second Anglo-Mysore War are depicted on the map. Known as Coote Bahadur (Coote the Brave) by his sepoy troops, Sir Eyre Coote was a charismatic officer and lieutenant general in the British East India Company Forces. With a keen strategic sense, he understood that the Anglo-Mysore Wars pitted the French against their principal Carnatic ally, the Kingdom of Mysore, just as much as they did the French. In three different battles in 1781 - the Battle of Porto Novo, the Battle of Polillur, and the Battle of Sholinghur - he decisively defeated Hyder Ali. The first was the most important; with only 8,000 soldiers, the British defeated a forty-thousand-strong Mysore army. Regretfully, the 56-year-old's health deteriorated during a very difficult campaign in 1782, and he passed away in Calcutta in 1783. Paradoxically, he barely outlived his formidable foe, Hyder Ali, by a single year. Cancer had claimed Ali's life in 1782.

This work will be shipped unframed.

NON-EXPORTABLE

Winning bid
$651
Rs 54,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)

Lot 48 Details

Absolute Tuesdays: Old Maps and Vintage Prints 28 February 2023

William Faden

A Map of the...

Original hand-coloured copper engraving on paper

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Rare two sheet unmounted map of India
Upper Portion: 59.5 x 86.3 in (151.1 x 219.2 cm)
Lower Portion: 59.5 x 86.3 in (151.1 x 219.2 cm)
Will form a huge map of 119 x 86.3 in (302.2 x 219.2 cm) approximately, when both the sheets are joined together

This two-page map represents the southern part of India as it was at the turn of the nineteenth century. It contains detailed information about the scope of British control in India at the time.

The two-page map covers the subcontinent as far north as Bombay (Mumbai), east as the City of Ellore (Eluru) and the Bay of Bengal, south as the city of Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari) and the northern part of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and west as the Laccadives (Lakshadwap).

The map emphasises the British dominance over the region by using Anglicized names for communities and landmarks, as well as by stressing the British conquest of the continent through the colour coding of various British officers' domains and marches across the subcontinent.

An intricate cartouche in the lower left corner has many remarks about the map as well as a set of scale bars depicting several units of measurement. A message from Faden appears on the first page, right above the page break, explaining his source for knowledge on the placement of a prisoner march from Condapoor to Madras, Captain Wheeler.

The map, which was first published in 1792, is color-coded by hand to depict the territorial holdings of various groups, as stated in a caption at the bottom. The red sections indicated territory controlled by the British, primarily by the British East India Company. Purple regions are those influenced by the Raja of Mysore, a state governed in the late-eighteenth century by Haider Ali and Tipu Sultan, both of whom were notorious for stirring multiple rebellions against the British.

The Marhatta's estates are green, whereas the Nizam's are orange. The Marhatta and Nizam are shown as British allies at the bottom of the map, having been obtained by partition deals in 1792 and 1799. The lands highlighted in yellow are ruled by the Nawabs of Carnatic (also known as the Nawabs of Arcot), who resisted British colonization until the early nineteenth century. Territories in blue were controlled by the Kingdom of Travancore, which was ruled by the British East India Company after a contract in 1795.

The map depicts many important marches across India. The Marquess of Cornwallis, whose trip is marked in red, was a key British figure in India during this period. He served as governor general and commander in chief of India from 1786 until 1793. In 1792, he defeated Tipu Sultan of Mysore in combat, compelling the Sultan to accept peace terms. Cornwallis was also a British Army general during the American Revolutionary War and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the late eighteenth century.

The British in India from 1600-1800

While communication between Europe and the Indian subcontinent dates back centuries, European colonists first arrived in the region in 1498, with Vasco de Gama of Portugal landing in Calicut (Kozhikode). However, the British were responsible for the most well-known and massive colonization of India.

The East India Company of England was granted commercial privileges in the Indian Ocean in 1600. By the mid-seventeenth century, the East India Company had been forced out of the East Indian trade by Dutch, French, and Portuguese traders, forcing them to focus on the spice trade on the Indian subcontinent. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British began to establish a greater foothold on the Indian subcontinent, owing mostly to Mughal Empire assaults, the building of ties with local rulers and traders, and effective military action. The Company served as Britain's representative on the subcontinent until 1858, when the Crown legally took over the province.

This map has three states, the first of which was published in 1792 and the third in 1800.

The sheets are unmounted and in 2 un-joined parts as issued. It needs to be joined together to make complete map of India of 119 x 86.3 in (302.2 x 219.2 cm) approximately, when both the sheets are joined.

This work will be shipped unframed

NON-EXPORTABLE

Winning bid
$741
Rs 60,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)

Lot 58 Details

Hindoostan Mapped: Absolute Tuesdays 8 June 2021

William Faden

A Map of Bengal, ...

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William Faden, A Map of Bengal, Bahar, Oude & Allahabad with Part of Agra and Delhi Exhibiting the Course of the Ganges from Hurdwar to the Sea by James Rennell, R.F.S. . . 1786, London, 1786
28.5 x 42 in (71.2 x 105 cm)

Original hand coloured detailed map of the Upper provinces of India, extending to Tibet in the North and the Bay of Bengal in the South. The map was drawn by James Rennell F.R.S., Surveyor General of India, and engraved from the original drawing in the Possession of the East India Company. The map includes a great amount of detail and shows roads and military outposts. Cartouche shows a bearded sea god resting his arm on a bull's head, and an alligator and leopard are beside him. At right, an Indian woman holds a bowl over a kneeling man, as two other men look on.

"William Faden (1749 - 1836) was an English cartographer and a publisher of maps. He was the royal geographer to King George III. He replaced Thomas Jeffery's in that role. The title of "geographer to the king" was given to various people in the 18th century, including John Senex, Herman Moll, Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Jeffreys. All of these men, including William Faden, were engravers and publishers, not scholars or academics. Their part was to publish and supply maps to the crown and parliament." (Source: Wikipedia)

This work will be shipped unframed

NON-EXPORTABLE

Winning bid
$1,690
Rs 1,20,000
(Inclusive of buyer's premium)