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Alexis Soltykoff, Voyages dans l'Inde, Paris: Garnier Frères, third edition, not dated

2 volumes in a large single octavo volume
456 pages including title page, half-titles, additional title printed in gold with wood engraved vignette, single-page map, 36 later hand-coloured tinted lithograph plates with tissue guards; original luxuriously gilt-decorated black cloth, incorporating pink, red, green and blue morocco onlays with the front board have been decorated with a picture of a Maharaja, while the backboard is showing a lute player along with extravagant blind stamping as well, all edges gilt, the spine is in gold damask.
28 x 19.5 x 3 cm

LIST OF PLATES
1. Map of Carte de l'Inde / 2. Route entre Colombo et Kandy (Ceylan) / 3. Ballet dramatique, représenté ar des Nalabars dans un bois, à Ceylan, près Colombo / 4. Ofirande d'un chef kandien à un temple de Bouddla, etc / 5. Prètres de Bouddha, Cingalis, etc / 6. Fète de la lune, à Ceylan / 7. Ceylan, entre Colombo et Kandy / 8. Village de Gatiganawa / 9. Procession religieuse dans les galeries du couvent de Ramisseram / 10. Procession religieuse à Madras / 11. Condjereram, ville sainte dans le Karnatik / 12. Intérieur du couvent de Condjeveram / 13. Une pagode à Madura / 14. Eléphants du radja de Travand / 15. Procession de la déesse Kali / 16. Les bords du Gange, près de Calcutta / 17. Environs de Calcutta / 18. Village bengali des bords du Gange / 19. Principale rue de Lucknow / 20. Voyage en poste dans les plaines du Pandjab / 21. Une rue de Lahore / 22. Schir-Sing, roi du Pandjab, ct sa suite, allant à la chasse aux environs de Lahore / 23. Schir-Sing revenant d'une revue de troupes / 24. Habitation européenne, à Simla / 25. Forèt de Mahassou, près de Simla / 26. Danse cachemirienne, près de Simla / 27. Temple rustique, aux environs de Simla / 28. Vallée du Kanaour, dans l'Himalaya / 29. Déota, ou temple paien (vallée du Kanaour) / 30. Aux environs de Tchini-Gong / 31. Cortége du Grand Mogol, à Dehli / 32. Bords de l'Indus, à Sacar-Bacar / 33. Chasse aux éléphants, dans la forèt de Karnigàl / 34. La cour du roi de Gwalior / 35. Achat d'armes à Dehli / 36. Arbre banian, sur la lisière du Paria-Djungle / 37. Idem dans le Paria-Djungle

Remarkable travel book on rural India in a deluxe oriental-style binding with text in French.

Prince Aleksei Dmitrievich Soltykoff (or: Aleksandr Mikhailovich Saltuikov / Aleksei Dmitrievich Saltykov) was born in 1806 in St. Petersburg as a member of an influential and wealthy family. He was also a traveler and artist who explored India and Persia. He was the grandson of Prince Nikolay Saltykov.

The present lot is a detailed travelogue containing 36 later hand-coloured tinted lithograph plates, a map, and a detailed account of his expeditions across India, with lithographs depicting Lucknow, Calcutta, Kandy, Madras, Ganges, Simla, the Himalayas, Delhi, Gwalior, and Punjab. As a guest of the Sikh sovereign Maharajah Sher Singh, he embarked on a lengthy journey to the Kingdom of Lahore. The volume comprises four renowned lithographs of the Punjab, which depict Sikh Akalis entering Lahore and Maharajah Sher Singh astride an elephant (as in lot no.84). In 1840, Alexis retired, gave up his diplomatic career, and moved to Paris, where he planned his voyages to India. He ended up embarking on two expeditions to India (February 1841–January 1843 and September 1844–February 1846), earning the moniker "The Indian" from the nobility of France and Russia. A compilation of his letters, illustrated in French and published in 1849 under the title "Lettres sur L’Inde" (Paris, 1848), which garnered significant recognition throughout Europe. The book was translated into Russian in 1851 and was an instant success; the Russian reading public was genuinely captivated.

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