Lot 199
Delhi, Agra, Calcutta, Benares
Collection of guidebooks and histories, printed in India, 19th and 20th century
Auction: India in Ink: The Library of Dr Raj Krishna | 01 October 2026 from 10am | Lots 79 to 208
Description
all 8vo unless otherwise stated, titles include:
Harcourt, [Alfred]. The New Guide to Delhi. Allahabad: Pioneer Press, 1866. First edition, original cloth-backed yellow boards with printed paper label, 3 folding lithographic sketch-maps, ownership inscription and monogram book-label of Clive Coates of Helperby;
Suhrawardy, Hassan. Calcutta and Environs. Calcutta: Lal Chand & Sons, [1924]. Second edition ('revised'), presentation copy inscribed ‘With the author's compliments, Camp XIX Hydrabad Regiment, Bengal Wing February 1925' on front free endpaper, original cloth, photographic frontispiece, large folding zincographic map to rear (the printer's slug implying a print-run of 500 copies), ownership inscription and monogram book-label of Clive Coates of Helperby;
Keene, H. G. A Hand-Book for Visitors to Agra and its Neighbourhood. Enlarged, Rectified, and Illustrated. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and CO., 1873. Original red cloth, 4 plans (3 of which folding), cloth mottled, wear to spine;
Latif, Syad Muhammad. Agra Historical and Descriptive, with an Account of Akbar and his court and of the Modern City of Agra. Calcutta: Calcutta Central Press Company, Limited, 1896. First edition, original cloth, lithographic folding plan, 47 lithographic plates including portraits (from Indian miniatures) and views, bookplate of F. E. Dinshaw imposed over presentation or gift inscription on front free endpaper, loss to cloth marked, loss to head of spine, front inner hinge very tender (holding by two cords);
Marshall, G. T. A Guide to Bengal: being a Close Translation of Ishwar Chandra Sharma's Bengallee Version of that Portion of Marshaman's History of Bengal, which comprizes the Rise and Progress of the British Dominion. Calcutta: under the patronage of the Government of Bengal, 1850. First edition thus, original cloth, inscription ‘College of Fort William’ and corresponding seal in Urdu and Hindi to verso of title-page, worming, a few worm-tracks repaired;
[Benares]. Kasi, or Benares; the Holy City of the Hindus. Compiled from Sherring, Buyers, Kennedy, Caine, and Other Authors. Madras: Christian Literature Society, 1894. 4to, original cloth-backed pictorial boards;
and 18 others similar (these not collated, including: Alfred Harcourt, New Guide to Delhi, c.1880, seventh edition; John Barry, Calcutta Illustrated, c.1850, second edition; B. V. Roy, Old Calcutta Cameo, 1946, first edition; J. A. Page, A Guide to the Qutb, Delhi, 1927 & 1938, 2 copies; State Visit to Agra 1907 Carriage and Traffic Regulations, Allahabad, 1906; Edmund Mitchell, Thacker's Guide Book to Calcutta, 1890; H. A. Mirza & Sons, Album of Delhi Guide, c.1920, oblong 8vo, original wrappers, lettering partly abraded, hole in rear wrapper; and similar (24)
Provenance
INDIA IN INK: THE LIBRARY OF DR RAJ KRISHNA
Footnote
Alfred Harcourt was the assistant commissioner Delhi at the time of writing his city guide, which proved highly successful, reaching at least a seventh edition by the 1880s; the first edition is notably uncommon. Hassan Suhrawardy was an Indian physician and member of the Bengal legislative council. His guide, Calcutta and Environs, was first published in 1921. One copy only of the first edition and the present second edition traced in UK institutions, both at the British Library.