Heber, Reginald, Right Rev
Narrative of a Journey Through the Upper Provinces of India,
From Calcutta to Bombay, 1824-1825.Year: 1828
Size: 22 x 14 cm (8.7 x 5.5 inches}
Published By: John Murray. 1828. Third edition, 8vo, 3 Vols. Vol. 1, PP 450+lxvii, 17 woodcut engravings, Vol. 2., PP 564+vi, 7 engravings. Vol. 3 PP 527+viii+vii, 4 engravings. Contemporary full calf leather binding, title in gilt on spine.
Heber was the second bishop of Calcutta-a diocese which had been established in 1814 and which then included not only the whole of India but southern Africa and Australia too. The first bishop, Thomas Fanshawe Middleton, had found his role highly problematic and died a frustrated man in July 1822. Heber was offered the appointment by his friend Sir Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, president of the Board of Control for India. After some hesitation he accepted, in January 1823; he was consecrated on 1 June and arrived at Calcutta in October. As bishop Heber's task was eased by a change in the law which enabled him to make the first Anglican ordinations of Indians; and he expedited the establishment of Bishop's College at Sibpur, whose main purpose was to be the training of clergy. Much of his time, however, was taken up with travel, to minister to the scattered Anglican communities which had come into existence throughout India and Ceylon. He traveled indefatigably through all parts of his unwieldy diocese, not only performing diligently his episcopal duties, but also healing differences and cheering the hearts and strengthening the hands of Christian workers wherever he went (DNB). His most notable journey, of a length and difficulty unprecedented for a Church of Englands bishop, was the one which he undertook across northern India-up the Gangetic plain, through the mountains of Kumaon and the deserts of Rajputana, and finally visiting Ceylon on his way back to Calcutta by sea. His journal was published as the Narrative of a journey through the upper provinces of India, from Calcutta to Bombay, 1824-1825, (with notes upon Ceylon); an account of a journey to Madras and the Southern Provinces, 1826; and letters written in India. It was edited by his widow and appeared in 1828 in two volumes. Its popularity was attested by the fact that five editions had been published by 1844, and its exceptional value as a description of India was recognized by contemporaries and by modern historians alike (DNB).. His journal of his work was eventually published in 1828, sadly two years after his death while visiting the south of India. Contemporary and recent historians have praised the work, finding interest in his description of the people and their culture and in his observation of the great natural beauty of India's rivers and mountains (Riddick 123). Lowndes II, 1030-31: "A highly valuable, interesting, and most delightful work.
Provenance : Collection of a Gentleman
Good
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