VIEWS OF BENARES FROM THE RIVER SIDE Presented by the Maharaja of Benares

A rare and beautiful little album with 20 original albumin print photographs of the various ghats of Benares by BABU JAGESHWAR PRASAD, the Maharaja's royal photographer.

These tiny albums were given away as a gift to visiting dignitaries by the Maharaja of Benares. [This album is inscribed by the recipient "E B Bell, February 19, 1901"]

This album, bound in maroon leather with gilt title on cover and the royal insignia gilt-embossed on the back [two fishes spiked with a trident and a Sanskrit quote within wreaths] measures 5.6 x 5 inches.

It has 20 original albumin photographs pasted within hand-drawn red rules on thick sheets back to back. Each photograph measures 4 x 3.2 inches and has its caption pasted in the form of a tiny printed paper strip below. The sheets have cloth hinges. The flowery endpapers are original.

The photographs were originally taken in the 1870s and used to produce large gift albums. The photographer's name is not mentioned in this album but he was BABU JAGESHWAR PRASAD, the Maharaja's royal photographer. This is a miniature version of the album with a reduced number of photographs. The album is finely bound, with no wear.
5 x 5.5 x 0.5 in (12.7 x 14.2 x 1.3 cm)

The 20 photographs are titled:

Fort Ramnagar [with ink inscription below stating 'Maharaja's Palace']
Assisangam Ghat
Batsraj Ghat
Shivala Ghat
Kedar Ghat
Amrit Rao Chutter Ghat
Dhunroo Panth Ghat
Ranamahl Ghat
Munshi Ghat
Ahilya Bai's Ghat
Dasaswamedh Ghat
Observatory of Manmandir
Lalita Ghat
Burning Ghat
Manikarnika Ghat
Ghosla Ghat
Baji Rao Ghat
Minaret, Panchganga Ghat
Gai Ghat [Illustrated twice]
Sumer Mandir Ramnagar

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot will be sold in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as reference for the condition of each photograph.