Lot 174
India
Collection of memoirs and 'sketches', including local imprints
Auction: India in Ink: The Library of Dr Raj Krishna | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 79 to 208
Description
‘A Native’. ‘Pen-and-Ink Sketches’ of Native Life in Southern India. Being a Collection of Contributions to the ‘Madras Mail,’ and the ‘Madras Times.’ Madras: Foster Press, 1880. First edition, 8vo, contemporary red calf gilt by Addison & Co. of Madras (with their ticket), [10] 296 pp., pencilled note on title identifying author as one J. A. Venkataramayya;
[Cust, Robert Needham]. Pictures of Anglo-Indian Life, sketches with the Pen. Lahore: printed at the Chronicle Press, by F. Mendes, 1860. First edition, 8vo, [4] 89 pp., later quarter calf, errata leaf, original wrappers bound in, front wrappers' inscription ‘Wigram Money, with kind regards, Allahabad, April 67’, the volume bulked out with blanks at rear;
Ballard, S. J. Tales about India. Mangalore: Basel Mission Book & Tract Depository, 1875. First edition, square 8vo, contemporary red morocco gilt, 159 pp.;
Moore, Mrs P. H. Further Leaves from Assam. Nowgong, Assam: [printed at the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta], 1907. First edition, one of 500 copies, 8vo, original cloth, 191 pp.;
Quinney, Thomas. Sketches of a Soldier's Life in India. Glasgow: David Robertson, 1853. First edition, 8vo, original cloth, [4] 176 pp.;
Hutton, James. A Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits, the Hereditary Garotters [sic] and Gang-Robbers of India. London: Wm. H. Allen and Co., 1857. First edition, 8vo, original red cloth, 173 pp., half-title, advertisement leaf;
and 4 others similar (10)
Provenance
INDIA IN INK: THE LIBRARY OF DR RAJ KRISHNA
Footnote
Library Hub cites one copy only of the Mangalore-printed Tales about India, at the British Library. Sketches of a Soldier's Life is an unusual example of a memoir of military service by a non-commissioned officer, the author naming himself on the title-page as a staff sergeant in the army of the East India Company.