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TITLE: Select Views in India, Drawn on the Spot, in the Years 1780, 1781, 1782, and 1783, and Executed in Aquatinta, by William Hodges
AUTHOR: William Hodges
PUBLISHER: J. Edwards
PLACE: London
YEAR: 1786
NO.OF PAGES: Including text in English and French, engraved map of part of the rivers Ganges, Munma, Goomty and Gogra 48 aquatint plates by and after William Hodges, India paper proofs before letters, numbered in manuscript in the lower corners.
BINDING:Later binding
SIZE: 68.5 x 50 x 3 cm

LIST OF PLATES:-

1. A map of part of Bengal and Bahah with the Provinces of Benares, Allahabad, Oude and Agra
2. A View of Part of the City of Oud
3. A View of the North End of Chunar Gur.br.4. A View of the S.W. Side Of Chunar Gur
5. A View of the Gate of the Caravan Serai, at Raje Mahel
6. A View of the Fort of Gwalior, from the N.W
7. A View of the South Side of the Fort of Gwalior
8. A View of the Ruins of a Palace at Gazipoor on the River Ganges
9. A View of Tombs at Gazipoor
10. A View of part of the Fort of Lutteefpoor
11. A View of the Fort of Bidjegur
12. A View of the Ruins of part of the Palace and Mosque at Futty poor Sicri
13. A View of the Mosque at Futtipoor Sicri
14. A View of a Musjd, or a Tomb at Jionpoor
15. A View of a Mosque , at Rajemahal
16. A View of the Fort of Agra, on the River Jumna
17. A View of a Farm-Yard in the Kingdom of Bengal
18. A View of a Mosque, at Mounter
19. A View of the Mosque at Mounter, from the S.E
20. A View of a Mosque at Chunar Gur
21. A View of the Fort of Allahabad
22. A View of part of the City of Benares, upon the Ganges
23. A View of the Pagodas at Deogur
24.A View of the Great Pagoda at Tanjore
25. A View of the Bridge over Oodooanulla
26. A View of a Hill-Village in the District of Baugelepoor
27. A View of the Gaut at Etawa on the Banks of the River Jumna
28. A View of the Ravines at Etawa
29. A View of Chinsura, the Dutch Settlement in Bengal
30. A View of the Fort of Monger, upon the banks of the River Ganges
31. The East End of the Fort of Mongheer
32. A Mosque at Gazipoor
33. A View of an Insulated Rock, in the River Ganges, at Jangerah
34. A View of the Fort of Jionpoor, upon the Banks of the River Goomty
35. A View of the Bridge at Jionpoor, over the River Goomty
36. A View of part of the Ruins of the City of Agra
37. A View of a Mausoleum at Etmadpoor
38. A View of part of the Palace of the late Nabob Suja ul Dowla at Fizabad
39. A View of part of the Palace of the late Nabob Suja ul Dowla at Fizabad
40. A View of part of the Tomb of the Emperor Akbar at Secundru
41. A View of Tombs at Secundru near Agra
42. A View of the Cuttera built by Jaffier Cawn at Muxadavad
43. A View of Firozabad
44. A View of Shekoabad
45. A View of the Fort of Peteter
46. A View of the City of Benares
47. A View of the Pass of theSicri Gully
48. A View in the Jungle Ferry
49. A View of a Hindoo Monument

Title and text in English and French, engraved map of part of the rivers Ganges, Munma, Goomty and Gogra.

This is an excellent copy of William Hodges' pioneering work on the architectural and picturesque wonders of India. Hodges (1744 - 1797) was the first professional landscape artist to visit India to meet the new demand for paintings of Indian scenery. His architectural subjects depicted many little known Muslim tombs and mosques, temples, forts and palaces in northern India. Hodges' writing and illustrations are considered to be of seminal importance by both Indian and Western historians.

Hodges was born in London to a blacksmith. Hewas employed as an errand-boy in Shipley's drawing school, where he learnt how to draw in his spare time. He was noticed by Richard Wilson, a landscape painter, and was taken as the latter's assistant and pupil. By 1766, Hodges was holding exhibitions of his work. In 1772, he was appointed as draughtsman to Captain James Cook's second expedition to the South Seas. Inspired by the voyage, he made and exhibited several pictures at the Royal Academy in London in 1776 and 1777.

In 1778, following the death of his wife, Hodges left for India. He arrived there via Madras, then traveled up the Coromandel coast to visit Calcutta, Bengal, Patna, Benares and Bidjegur before returning to Calcutta due to illness. After recovery he visited Allahabad, Cawnpoor, Lucknow, Agra and Fyzabad. Travelling through the country allowed him to observe its architecture, inhabitants, customs and scenery up close. He left India in 1783 and on his return to London, exhibited 25 oil paintings and a selectionof aquatints at the Royal Academy between 1785 and 1794. These works "gave a completely new and direct vision of India translated into an eighteenth century painter's composition. His views of the countryside with its great rivers and forests had little in common with the popular picture of India gained from old engravings in the travelers' accounts. His architectural subjects depicted many little-known Muslim tombs and mosques, Hindu temples, forts and palaces in Upper India....."(India Observed).

Select Views in India, a two-volume set of 48 aquatints, was issued in 12 equal parts between 1785 and 1788. Hodge executed these drawings while in India as the guest of Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of India. This work, with its spectacular scenes of India, caused a sensation, as nothing on this scale had been published previously. The text gives a brief history of each site, along with an account of events that occurred in each place. Both volumes were enthusiastically received as they offered a look at unfamiliar, faraway lands. Hodges' expressive and skilled draughtsmanship played no small role in boosting their popularity. The panoramic vistas, unlike the Europe Hodges was familiar with, and the strong contrasts between sun and shadow were appealing at the time. Hodges "conveyed the towering bulk of many Indian monuments by exaggerated proportions and foreshortened perspective. The countryside is shown rough with stunted scrub and windswept trees; paint is vigorously applied ... Here was a new and fresh approach to the Indian scene, viewing it in the 'picturesque' taste and presenting novel material, especially architecture, to the British public in a new manner." (India Observed, accessed online ) The first four plates in the set were probably published by Hodges, the next 24 were published by John Wells (plates 5 to 28) and the rest by J Grives. The famed British aquatint master, Thomas Daniell, mastered the art of aquatint hoping to emulate Hodge's commercial success.

Reference: Abbey Travel II, 416; cf. Mildred Archer, India Observed pp.8-10; Bobins, Exotic and the Beautiful I, 255; Brunet III, 242; cf. H de Almeida & G.H. Gilpin Indian Renaissance pp.114-126; Lowndes II, p.1079; cf. P. Rohtagi & P. Godrej,India A Pageant of Prints pp.37-47; cf. P. Rohtagi & G. Parlett, Indian Life and Landscape pp. 142-149; Tooley 264; Lowndes, p. 939.