THE FOYLE COPY OF GRINDLAY’S MAGNIFICENT FOLIO COLOR PLATE WORK ON INDIA, WITH 36 LOVELY HAND-COLORED AQUATINT VIEWS

GRINDLAY, Robert Melville. Scenery, Costumes and Architecture, Chiefly on the Western Side of India. London: [R. Ackerman] and Smith, Elder, [1826]-30. Folio (13 x 16 inches), 20th-century full morocco gilt, raised bands, all edges gilt.

First edition of one of the finest color plate books on India, with 36 magnificent hand-colored aquatint plates of views of temples and scenery, cities such as Bombay and Hyderabad, the island of Ceylon, and cultural practices such as suttee, handsomely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. The copy of W.A. Foyle, the renowned book collector and co-founder of Foyles bookshop, with his morocco booklabel.

Tooley calls this one of the most attractive color plate books on India. The fine hand-colored plates are by Reeve, Fielding and others after Grindlay, Westall, Stanfield, Roberts and others; this work is also one of the few books in which the name of the colorist is mentioned: J.B. Hogarth. Grindlay, the founder of ANZ Grindlays Bank, visited India in 1803 to work with the East India Company. He also served with the Seventh Bombay Native Infantry from 1804-1820, a period during which he undoubtedly derived much of the inspiration for this work. This work was first published in six parts of six plates each, with accompanying text (the work was begun in 1826 by Ackermann but was taken over by Smith, Elder & Co. and completed in 1830). On completion of the parts issue, the book was also issued as a whole by Smith, Elder and issued in one or two volumes. This copy has the beautiful Ackermann hand-colored engraved title page from 1826. This is the earliest known state of the plates and text according to Tooley, bound with part titles for Parts II-VI, as usual; bound with the advertisement leaves in Parts II, IV, VI, also as usual (Tooley, 203). Volume II lithographic title mounted on India paper at front, after main hand-colored lithographic title. The pages are paginated for Part I only, as “pagination ceased with the appearance of the second part” (Abbey Travel 442. The coloring is of the highest quality throughout. Abbey Travel 442. Tooley, 203. Colas 1333. Morocco armorial booklabel of W.A. Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey, who was co-founder of the famous Foyles bookshop. There, Foyle combined his love of the absurd with the love of books. He became known as a character, defined by the unbelievable (but sometimes true) stories about he told about himself and his remarkable dedication to acquiring books, including an attempt to buy the Jewish books that Hitler slated for burning during his rise to power. He also sold books by weight—at a tuppence per pound. Beeleigh Abbey was home to Foyle’s remarkable private library. His collection sold at Christie’s for 12.6 million pounds, the highest sum ever realized in a book sale. Pencil notation.

Plates in unusually lovely condition with bright and fresh coloring, only a few faint areas of foxing to text and plates, binding with only slight rubbing to extremities. An exceptional copy of this wonderful treasury of 19th-century Indian views with a notable provenance.