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Lieutenant Clifford Henry Mecham, Sketches and Incidents of the Siege of Lucknow: From Drawings made during the Siege by Clifford Henry Mecham with Descriptive Notices by George Couper, Esq. late Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Oude, London: Day and Son, 1858

[12] pages; tinted lithographed title page with vignette and 26 fine tinted lithographed views on 17 plates, with tissue new guards; publisher's dark brown cloth-covered boards, tooled in blind and title embossed in gilt on the boards with fresh spine
57 x 38.5 x 1.2 cm

Author's presentation copy.

LIST OF PLATES
1. Title page. Baillie Guard Gateway / 2. The Baillie Guard Gateway from the Nobut Khana (Music Hall) / 3. The Residency from the Water Gate / 4. Mr. Gubbins's House / 5. Sander's Post / 6. Front view of the Residency / 7. The Church / 8. The Redan Battery / 9. The Baillie Guard Battery and Hospital / 10. The New Cawnpore Battery / 11. The Judicial Commissioners' Kutchery (Court House.) / 12. Rear view of the Residency from the Churchyard / 13. The Seikh Yard Breach / 14. Interior of the Residency Billiard Room / 15. View from Residency Look Out Tower / 16. The Seikh Yard Battery / 17. The Nobut Khana Gateway / 18. The Clock Tower Gateway / 19. View from the Highlanders' Post / 20. Anderson's Battery / 21. Havelock's Grave, and the Alumbagh Picket-House / 22. Interior of Alumbagh / 23. Jellalabad / 24. Listening for Miners / 25. The Mosque Picket / 26. Lying in Wait / 27. Sinking a Shaft

This book provides a comprehensive narrative and visual record of a highly eventful segment from the 1857 Indian Rebellion. Mecham's meticulously rendered illustrations from the protracted and arduous siege, which spanned from June to November 1857, are included in the book. Descriptive notices authored by George Couper, a former Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of Oude, accompany each illustration. This distinctive collaboration offers a combination of textual and visual perspectives that shed light on the heroic deeds, daily challenges, and tragic occurrences that the inhabitants and defenders of Lucknow endured. With Mecham's illustrations effectively encapsulating the ferocity and urgency of the conflict and Couper's commentary providing a contextual framework for the scenes, this piece of historical documentation on British India is beyond compare.

Mecham served until June 1859, at which point he returned home on furlough. When he returned to India in March 1861, he assumed a diverse range of responsibilities. Unknown in the cause, he was demoted from his command of the 9th Bengal Cavalry on September 20, 1864, and remained unemployed until April 1865. Subsequently, he was stationed at the expansive military outpost at Ambala, situated midway between Delhi and Simla, until September 1865. On September 15, 1865, in Kalka, close to Ambala, he abruptly passed away from hepatitis and was buried in Ambala.

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