A collection of two hundred and fifty coloured etchings : descriptive of the manners, customs and dresses of the Hindoos / by Balt: Solvyns.
Francois Balthazar Solvyns (1760-1824)
Category
Art / Prints
Date
1799
Materials
Place of origin
Calcutta
Collection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 3100973
Summary
Bibliographic description
[4] p., 250 leaves of plates ; fol. Bound in 4 v. Imperfect: lacks printed title page and preface. Letterpress pages replaced by manuscript title leaf (with variant title: "A collection of two hundred and fifty coloured etchings : descriptive of the manners customs character dress and religious ceremonies of the Hindoos") and dedication leaf, both in the hand of Solvyns. Manuscript divisional title pages for sections and manuscript captions. Bookseller's pencil notes on front free endpaper verso in v. 1: "Original drawings" ("drawings" erased); "4 vol £48/-/-"; and "4 vols. sd/sd/". Bookseller's pencil code on rear free endpaper in v. 1. Pencil number "4" on front free endpaper verso in v. 4. Ephemera: loosely inserted in v. 1: (1) clipping from bookdealer's catalogue describing this copy (price cut out); (2) typescript catalogue card; loosely inserted in v.2: typescript catalogue card (variant). Provenance: Red morocco label on upper boards, gilt lettered: 'The Right Honorable Richard Earl of Mornington, Knight of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick, Governor General of all the British possessions in India, &c. &c. &c. 1799.'. Nineteenth?-century crest bookplate (not in Franks): 'C. A. Oldham'. Twentieth-century armorial bookplate (large variant), signed Badeley 1930: ‘Urban Huttleston Rogers Lord Fairhaven’ [i.e.: Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966)]. Binding: Late eighteenth-century full black morocco; outer border of gilt fillets (thick and thin) and gilt rolls (Greek key design); thin gilt fillets to form an inner panel; red morocco label on upper boards, gilt lettered: 'The Right Honorable Richard Earl of Mornington, Knight of the most illustrious Order of St. Patrick, Governor General of all the British possessions in India, &c. &c. &c. 1799.'; sewn onto four recessed cords; spines lettered direct (gilt tooled): 'Solvyns' Manners, &c. of the Hindoos Vol. I[-IV].'; marbled endpapers.
Makers and roles
Francois Balthazar Solvyns (1760-1824), engraver (printmaker)