PBA Galleries

Title-leaf, ii pp. introduction + 50 hand-colored aquatint plates, each with leaf of descriptive letterpress. 13½x9¾, modern half morocco & marbled boards, spine ruled in gilt, raised bands. First Edition.

Pictorial tour of the far east in a superb series of hand-colored aquatints. Included are views of Malaya, Java, Straits of Malacca, approximately 22 plates of China, and the remaining five of India: Bay of Bengal, two on the River Hoogly and two of Calcutta. Though only two in number, the pictures of Calcutta are particularly noteworthy; "Calcutta from the Garden Reach" is one of the most famous of the Daniell pictures. The final plate shows the "Old Fort Gaut" containing the notorious "Black Hole of Calcutta". Originally issued in ten parts, in oblong format, the present copy has been bound upright, the bottom of the plates at the gutter. Provenance: A Northern California private collector.