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William Edwards, Sketches in Scinde, London: Graves, 1846

Lithograph title, 11 later hand-coloured lithographed plates by Haghe & Williams, plan of Scinde (each measuring 28.5 x 40 cm), all mounted on the card within ink ruled borders, text page, a dedication leaf, and plan; original quarter red morocco, gilt embossed emblems to upper cover.
54.5 x 36.5 x 1.5 cm

LIST OF PLATES
1. Title page. His Excellency Major General Sir C. Napier / 2. N.W. Front - Fort Hyderabad / 3. Tombs at Truck /4. The Round Tower - Fort Hyderabad / 5. View from the Top of the Round Tower / 6. Main Gate way - Fort Hyderabad / 7. Main Guard and Government House / 8. Entrance to the Town of Schewan, on the side of Lal Shah Baz's Tomb/ 9. Rorree on the Indus - Upper Scinde / 10. The Fortress of Deyrah (Cutch Gundava) / 11. Southern Entrance to the Strong-Hold of Truckee, in the Bootee Country (Cutch Gundava)

The annexation of the Sindh province in 1843 was an important historical incident that determined the British East India Company's growing conquest of the Indian subcontinent. A territorially advantageous terrain, the Sindh province allowed the British to repel the advance of the Russian forces in the north, while gaining control of a strategic trade route. In February 1843, the Bombay Presidency of the British East India Company consisting of 2,800 troops led by General Sir Charles Napier, waged the Battle of Miani against the Talpur rulers of the Sindh. The victory of Miani was followed by the Battle of Dubbo at Hyderabad (in what is now Pakistan), furthering Napier's militaristic ambitions and cementing the British power in that region.

One of the soldiers serving in Napier's army at the time was Lieutenant William Edwards. An officer of the 86th or Royal County Down Regiment, Edwards was appointed aide-de-camp to Napier and was at the centre of this tumultuous chapter in Sindh history. The present lot is a set of eleven hand-coloured lithographed plates based on Edwards' drawings and are considered to be the only series of folio size plates by a British military artist focusing exclusively on the Sindh. Published in an album in 1846, these visual recordings depict several aspects of the Sindh campaign, including a portrait of Napier astride his horse and various intricate illustrations of the local architecture and life. These plates were made available as lithographs, either tinted in neutral shades or in a deluxe hand-painted colour edition.

Reference: J R Abbey, Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860, 469

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