[SCOTT WARING, John]. Observations on the Present State of the East India Company: With prefatory Remarks on the alarming Intelligence lately received from Madras, as to the general Disaffection prevailing amongst the Natives of every Rank, from an Opinion that it is the Intention of the British Government to compel them to embrace Christianity … The Third Edition. London: printed for James Ridgeway. 1807.
8vo. Entirely uncut in the original publisher's boards with paste-paper spine and printed label; pp. lx, lxv-lxxii, lxi-lxiv, lxxiii-lxxvi, [3]-78 (two preliminary leaves misbound); minor marking to binding, first and final page a little dusted, tile-page with traces of removed carte-de-visite over imprint, a very good copy of a great rarity.
A vehement attack on some British attempts to interfere in Indian religious matters and to promote Christianity on the Subcontinent, written by Warren Hasting's former political agent in India. Scott Waring retired in the late 1790s, and 'and continued to publish the occasional pamphlet on Indian affairs. In particular, he was strongly opposed to sending missionaries to India' (ODNB). He experesses his disdain fo rmissiaonary activities in India as posing a great danger in provoking anti-British uprisings and jeopardizing the entire British colonial project. 'In India the missionaries, and the liberality of the Bible Society, can produce nothing but mischief' he bursts out on page xi.
'The Vellore mutiny on 10 July 1806 was the first instance of a large-scale and violent mutiny by Indian sepoys against the East India Company, predating the Indian Rebellion of 1857 by half a century. The revolt, which took place in the South Indian city of Vellore, lasted one full day, during which mutineers seized the Vellore Fort and killed or wounded many British troops … Also present in the Vellore Fort were the wife and children of Tipu Sultan (who was killed in the Battle of Seringapatam in 1799) who were housed in a palace within the fort. Tipu Sultan’s sons also instigated the rebellion' (Brief Overview of the Vellore Mutiny, online). Scott Waring contradicts in this point by writing 'From later information I have reason to believe that the sons of Tippoo Sultaun are innocent of the charge preferred against them; but the disaffected men of the Carnatic and the Mysore did take advantage of our folly, and that they excited the troops to a religious mutiny, the most to be dreaded of all others, is beyond a doubt' (p. x).
Provenance: The typical shelfmark of the collection of the 19th-century bibliomaniac Sir Thomas Phillipps inside front cover. Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1st Baronet (1792-1872) amassed the largest manuscript collection of the 19th century, spanning over 60,000 works. He was a self-professed ‘vello-maniac’, and he ran himself into debt from his frequent book purchases in 1822, from which he would never emerge. When he acquired Thirlestaine House in 1867, his library had grown so extensive that it took two years to transport his collection to his new home. The fate of his extensive library after his death played on his mind often. He initially desired to send his collection to the Bodleian library, but when they denied his request to become their head librarian, he rescinded the offer. He had a fraught relationship with his daughter and her husband, the Halliwells, so much so that in his will (which he had been editing for over fifty years) he specifically stated that 'not a book was to be moved [from his library] and the Halliwell’s and all Roman Catholics were banned from entering' (ODNB). In the end, his collection was gradually dispersed through a series of auctions at Sotheby’s and later by booksellers Lionel and Philip Robinson. In 1977 the remainder of his collection was acquired by the New York dealers H. P. Kraus. Phillipps often feared that he would lose his precious collection in a fire, which lead him to store his books 'in coffin-like boxes with handles and drop-down lids, piled on each other, so that if in danger they could be speedily removed' (ODNB).
WorldCat locates two copies of the 4th edition of 1808, at New York Public Library and University of Minnesota; LibraryHub locates the same edition at the National Library of Scotland, the present, third, edition at Canterbury Cathedral, and in the British Library.
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