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Mrs H Clark, Summer Scenes in Kashmeer, London: Day & Son, [1858]

Title with plate list on verso, 12 tinted lithographic plates by J Needham after Mrs. H. Clark; contemporary maroon half morocco, with 5 raised bands at the spine, morocco title label on upper cover gilt, all edges gilt, preserved in modern customised (with toggles) book box of Robert & Maria Travis
56 x 40.2 x 2.2 cm
57 x 41 x 3.5 cm (solander box)

Very Rare. Not in the standard bibliographies, a very good copy of one of the rarest Indian view books.

LIST OF PLATES
1. Cottage residences on the Jhelum, provided by Maharajah Goolab Singh for British Officers / 2. Palace and part of the Fort, Srinugur / 3. Bridge over the Jhelum, in the city / 4. Zearut, containing the shrine of Shah Hamadan / 5. View of the Hurree Purbut, from seventh and last bridge in the city, looking up the river / 6. View of the City and Jummu Musjeed, from Hurree Purbut / 7. Ancient Temple on the Tukt-I-Suleman / 8. The Kashmeer Lake, from Nusseeb Bagh / 9. Ancient Temple, Pundruttun, above Srinugur/ 10. Temple of the Sun, Martund, Islamabad / 11. View over the Wulur Lake and mountains of Ladak, and mountains of Ladak, including Nunga Parbat, from slope of Gool Murg Mountain / 12. Bapum Reesh: A moosulman benevolent establishment on the ascent to the Gool Murg Mountain.

According to Worldcat, only six copies can be traced in institutions (2 copies at the British Library, National Art Library [the V & A shows a duplicate ghost record on Worldcat], London Library, Strassburg and Yale). Only a few copies can be traced as selling at auctions.

It is important to consider the timing of the publication of Summer Scenes in Kashmeer; 1858 was the last year of the Indian Mutiny/War of Independence. In Britain, stories and images of this conflict had piqued a major interest in India. It is possible that Day & Son were hoping to cash in on this interest by providing a wide range of material on India. Summer Scenes was advertised in The Publishers’ Circular under ‘Christmas Presents: Illustrated and Illuminated Works’ where it appeared alongside other volumes, such as Curry and Rice; or, the Ingredients of Social Life at “Our” Station in India by Captain George F. Atkinson; The Campaign in India – 1857-58: The Military Operations before Delhi by Captain Atkinson; and Sketches and Incidents of the Siege of Lucknow by Lieutenant Clifford M. Mecham with descriptive text by George Couper, Esq. (Source: thesouthasiacollection, online)

PROVENANCE
From the Collection of Robert and Maria Travis (book plate on the front pastedown)
Sotheby’s, The Library of Robert & Maria Travis: a pictorial record of India and the Far East, 2007, Lot 59
Acquired from the above
Important Private Collection, New Delhi

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