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Robert Hyde Colebrook, Twelve Views of Places in the Kingdom of Mysore: The Country of Tippoo Sultan, From Drawings Taken on the Spot. To Which Are Annexed, Conci(f)e De(f)criptions of the Places drawn, with a brief Detail of Part of the Operations of the Army under the MARQUIS CORNWALLIS, during the late War, and a few other Particulars, London: Privately printed, 1794

12 later hand-coloured aquatint plates by John William Edy after R.H. Colebrook, with watermarks dating 1801 and 1804, 6 sheets of descriptive letterpress interleaved with the plates with tissue guards (slightly worn out), has list of subscribers published; bound in later saffron-coloured cloth with Indian design motif, with maroon leather gilt title ticket pasted on the front board and spine
53.5 x 73 x 3 cm

LIST OF PLATES:
1. East View of Bangalore / 2. The Lake of Mooty Tallaow near Seringapatam / 3. Prospect of the Country near Mooty Tallaow / 4. Pagodas of Maugry, with a distant View of Sewan-droog / 5. North-West View of Nandy-droog / 6. North View of Sewandroog showing the Attack in Dec, 1791 / 7. South View of Sewandroog / 8. South-West View of Ootra-Durgum / 9. West View of Ramgherry / 10. The Mausoleum of Hyder Aly Khan at Laulbaug / 11. East View of Seringapatam / 12. North-West View of Seringapatam

A military surveyor and draughtsman, Robert H Colebrooke was born to a British ambassador at Chilham Castle in Kent. Colebrooke served as a surveyor in the Bengal Infantry from 1778 until his death in Bhagalpur in 1808. He learned surveying techniques while accompanying Thomas Dean Pearse, a British Army officer in the Bengal Army's artillery, on his tour along the east coast from Madras (now Chennai) to Hooghly. Colebrooke was involved in measuring and surveying various parts of the subcontinent, including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands between 1789-1790. A year later, while surveying the routes taken by the army of Lord Cornwallis, Colebrooke made drawings of Seringapatam (now Srirangapatna), Bangalore and the local countryside of Mysore. These were originally published in the Calcutta Gazette in 1792. Two years later, Colebrooke's drawings were engraved by John William Edy, a Danish artist working in London, and published in the form of aquatints as Twelve Views of Places in the Kingdom of Mysore: The Country of Tippoo Sultan. This set of views - which show historically significant locations associated with Hyder Ali (including his mausoleum) and Tipu Sultan -became very popular and were republished several times, including the present lot edition.

Reference: J R Abbey, Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860, 426

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