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Lieutenant -Colonel James Tod, Annals and Antiquities of Rajas'than or the Central and Western Rajpoot States of India, London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1829-32

Volume I: 1829, xxx + 806 pages including 1 black and white frontispiece, 1 engraved plate folded in 8 parts, 1 map hand-coloured in outline and backed on linen, 29 black and white engraved plates mostly by Edward Findon after Patrick Young Waugh, plate list, errata leaf at the end
Volume II: 1832, xxxii + 791 pages including 1 black and white frontispiece + 22 black and white engraved plates mostly by Edward Findon after Patrick Young Waugh along with 8 unpublished engravings which appear to have been originally intended by the late Colonel Tod for the illustration of his fine work on Rajasthan, but which for some unknown reasons were omitted. The present proprietor has thought it advisable to print of a few impressions, to add to those copies of the work which have passed into his hands, plate list
Modern antique-style half calf, with marbled boards and leather title ticket on the spine with 5 raised bands, top edges gilt, preserved in modern customized (with toggles) book box of Robert & Maria Travis (each)
33 x 27 x 5.5 cm (each)

‘'Tod's work revealed much about the states of Rajasthan which had remained largely unexplored and unmapped by Europeans until the nineteenth century. The deserts of Sind and Rajasthan cover vast areas of the north of India and for centuries the Hindu kingdoms of Rajasthan had been ruled by Rajput princes in a feudal system which preserved the independent traditions of each state. The reputation of these noblemen as patrons of art and their life-style, became as legendary as that of the Mughals. In 1805 Tod and Waugh, who were serving in the Bengal Army, were sent to an embassy of the Maratha ruler, Daulat Rao Sindhia, whose army was then in Udaipur (Mewar). Tod's official duties enabled him to survey the geography and study the history, antiquities, systems of government, languages and customs of the states, which developed into this work. The text is accompanied by many engravings, the original sketches of which were mostly drawn by Waugh. In the early 1820s Tod left Rajasthan and retired from the army, returning to London, where he became Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society'’. (Source: Godrej & Rohatgi)

PROVENANCE
From the Collection of Robert & Maria Travis (bookplate)
Sotheby’s, The Library of Robert & Maria Travis: a pictorial record of India and the Far East, 2007, Lot 283
Acquired from the above
Important Private Collection, New Delhi