‘Up the Country’ Letters Written to Her Sister From the Upper Provinces of India [2 Volumes]

Emily Eden, ‘Up the country’ letters written to her sister from the upper provinces of India, London: Bentley, 2nd edition, 1866, 2 Volumes

Volume I: vi, 302 pages, [ii]
Volume II: 263 pages

Rebound half calf (both)
8.10 x 5.5 in (20.5 x 13.9 cm) (both)

An ‘entertaining account of the eighteen months she spent in the upper provinces of India, beginning with a journey from Calcutta to Simla in 1837, as first lady of the Raj’ (Robinson).

Known for her amusing accounts of English life in the 19th century, Eden was a reputed poet and artist from London. Born into a family of aristocrats, she was acquainted with British political affairs and life from an early age.

When her brother George (Lord Auckland) was appointed as Governor-General to India in 1836, Eden, along with her sister Fanny, accompanied him and travelled around the subcontinent for a few years. During this time, she documented the personalities she encountered and occasions she witnessed through a series of richly detailed sketches. From portraits of Indian aristocrats and servants to depictions of royal ceremonies and major political events, her sketches serve both as a personal and historical memoir of colonial India. In 1844, a few years after her return to England, these drawings were published as a set of monochrome and hand-painted lithographs known as Portraits of the People and Princes of India.

Eden also recorded her life and observations in India in a collection of delightfully written letters addressed to her sister, which were later published as Up the country’ letters written to her sister from the upper provinces of India. She is also known for her novels The Semi-detached House and The Semi-attached Couple.

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