Lot No. 18: FORREST, LIEUT. COL. CHARLES RAMUS

FORREST, LIEUT. COL. CHARLES RAMUS

A PICTURESQUE TOUR ALONG THE RIVERS GANGES AND JUMNA IN INDIA

CONSISTING OF TWENTY-FOUR HIGHLY FINISHED AND COLOURED VIEWS, A MAP AND VIGNETTES, FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS MADE ON THE SPOT, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

First edition

Year: 1824

Size: 34 x 29 cm (13.5 x 11.5 inches)

Published by L. Harrison for Rudolph Ackermann. Small Folio (40 x 33 cm)
No. of Illustrations: 24 + 1 Hand-coloured Aquatint Plates.

Title with hand-coloured aquatint vignette, Title, 2 ff. pp. iv, 191, 1 folding uncoloured engraved map, 24 hand-coloured aquatint plates after Forrest by G. Hunt (5), Thomas Sutherland (19), 1 hand-coloured aquatint tail-piece.
Contemporary cloth with leather spine, marbled boards with, gilt-paneled spine, Moroccan spine labels; all plates with tissue guards; wide margin copy with clean plates.
Excellent condition copy.

A lovely, large copy of one of the great books on the Indian sub-continent: "a just portrait of the enchanting features of India, eternally glowing in the brilliant glory of the resplendent Asiatic sun" (preface).

This important book ranks alongside the works of William Hodges, the Daniells and Henry Salt as one of the cornerstone pictorial works on India. Forrest?s views are thought to excel those of all other amateur artists, two especially fine plates along the Yamuna being those of the Taj Mahal and the Palace of the King of Delhi. 'The drawings are all attentively copied from nature, and in many instances coloured on the spot, and always the magic effects of the scenes represented were still impressed on [Forrest's]... mental vision. The reader will recollect with indulgence, that the coloring of these views, which so far exceeds that of the scenery of Europe, is but a just portrait of the enchanting features of India, eternally glowing in the brilliant glory of the resplendent Asiatic sun' (Preface). Printed in up to three colours and then delicately hand-coloured, the plates capture the bewitching play of light that so exemplifies Indian scenery.

Forrest was posted in Bengal from 1802 with the 3rd Regiment of Foot, and in the course of his duties made numerous journeys by boat, palanquin or on horseback. The work begins with an overview of Indian history, and his account of his principal journey starts on page 123, describing a tour made by Forrest starting in December 1807. He set out with six companions, 200 servants and followers and a guard of 40 native troops, following the routes of the rivers up from Calcutta to Delhi. Like the various tributaries encountered en route, Forrest made numerous detours to places of interest. All of these are recorded, both in the text and in the plates, with a sensitivity which clearly suggests Forrest's affinity for the country. With a fine sense of the dramatic, he saves his visit to the Taj Mahal for the concluding chapter: "The object which now calls our attention is last in order, but of the highest beauty and interest of any structure yet raised and perfected by man in any region of the earth . The main part of this splendid edifice has fortunately been respected by all the invaders of Hindoostan, its great beauty being probably its protection. It is as pure and perfect as the day it was finished; and with common care, in the equal climate in which it is situated, it may last for centuries"

---

Provenance : Collection of a Gentleman