Set of 2 Victorian Travelogues by Indians
a) Bholanauth Chunder, The Travels of a Hindoo in Various Parts of Bengal and Upper India, London: N. Trubner & Co., 1869
(In Two Volumes)
Volume 1: pp. xxv, 439 + folding map as frontispiece
Volume 2: pp. viii, 409 + pp. 103 publisher’s catalogue at the end
Original green cloth board with decorative gilt design on the front board and gilt text at the spine (each)
8.3 x 5.8 in (20.8 x 14.5 cm) (each)
Volume 1 has 2 chapters narrating A TRIP TO HOOGHLY covering Chitpore, Nadia, Satgaon, Cutwa, Murshidabad, Berhampore, Gour, Rajmahal, Monghyr, Patna, Dinapore, Mirzapore. And 6 chapters covering A TOUR TO THE NORTH-WEST relating to Burdwan, Santhal region, Jain temples of Parisnath, Sasseram, and 1 chapter each on Benares, Allahabad and Agra.
Volume 2 covers Fatehpur Sikri, Mathura, Brindabun, Hathras, Aligarh, and Delhi.
The book has an Introduction by J Talboys Wheeler.
Bholanauth Chunder was a member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and belonged to the generation of Young Bengal and his collection of accounts of three travels undertaken between 1845 and 1860 is remarkable for its lucid narrative marked by an excellent command of English, lyrical prose and complete mastery over the language. It reads like a book by a highly sophisticated Englishman but for the accounts relating to Hindu customs and places of pilgrimage. Especially remarkable is the account of his visit to Brindabun in the 1860s [possibly the only English account of the place by a Hindu in Victorian times]. He also saw the countryside by road from Calcutta to Benares and on to Delhi in the immediate aftermath of the Mutiny. Chunder was an opinionated man, belonging to the mercantile class and with no patience for the usual run of Brahmin priests. In language, visual narrative and dedicated views he is far superior to his contemporary Lutfullah Khan, who had published his travel narrative of central and western India just before the Mutiny in the English language.
b) Edward B Eastwick, Autobiography of Lutfullah, A Mohamedan Gentleman; And His Transactions with His Fellow-Creatures: Interspersed With Remarks On The Habits, Customs, And Character Of The People With Whom He Had To Deal, London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1863
pp. xii, 411; beige cloth with title printed on cover with a new spine; title-page has previous owner’s name
7.1 x 4.6 in (17.8 x 11.5 cm)
After a colourful early life Lutfullah Khan [1802-1874] taught Persian to the British, and English language and manners to the Indian royalty. He belonged to Surat and visited England.
(Set of two)
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