DAVIDSON, C. J. C. Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India, from Bareilly, in Rohilcund, to Hurdwar, and Nahyun, in the Himalaya Mountains, with a tour in Bundeleund, a Sporting Excursion in the Kingdom of Oude, and a Voyage down the Ganges. London: Henry Colburn. 1843.
Two volumes, 8vo. Early 29th-century Indian Russia, spines lettered in gilt; pp. xv, 344; x, 349; covers a little warped, light offsetting from endpapers; a rather clean and fresh copy, printed on good paper.
Scarce first edition, association copy, inscribed by R. C. Giles, the great-grandson of the author in Mumbay on half-title and with loosely inserted typed envelope addressed to him, stamped 1955. This book, an insightful travelogue, with much contact with the Indian population, notes on customs, social life, agriculture, economy and daily life was written by an author, about whom we were not able to find much information. Nevertheless, it is a highly legible first-hand account. At the end of volume two is an announcement that his 'Hindo-Dramatic Poem' Zaina, the Suttee will be published shortly. It apparently never came to it. The Lieutenant Colonel of the East India Company and Engineers in Bengal dedicates this book in print to Sir Benjamin Brunel, the engineer behind the Thames Tunnel. However, there was no engineer with that name; Marc and Kingdom Isambard Brunel had been behind the project. The year this book came out the tunnel was finished and opened to great acclaim. - A few pencil annotations in Giles' hand to the text.
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