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Emily Eden, Portraits of the Princes and People of India, London: J. Dickinson & Son, 1844

Lithographed title page (illustrating the son of the Nawab of Banda), 28 lithographs mounted on 24 sheets of card (four cards with two lithographs each), by Lowes Dickinson after Eden, printed captions to each plate mounted on the reverse of the card; original contemporary half Morocco and cloth cover, upper gilt lettered
54.7 x 38 x 1.2 cm

LIST OF PLATES
1. The son of the Nawab of Banda (frontispiece) / 2. Dost Muhammad Khan, ruler of Afghanistan, and family / 3. Maharajah Sher Singh, 'the present sovereign of the Sikhs' / 4. Hindoo Fakeer / 5. Two Jemadars, Calcutta (two plates on one card) / 6. Akalees, 'being very wild in appearance, and turbulent characters' / 7. The Rajah of Patiala / 8. Rajah Heera Singh / 9. Rajah Hindoo Rao / 10. A Patiala horseman / 11. A young hill Rajah, from the area around Simla / 12. Falconers, servants of the King of Oudh / 13. Servants of Raja Khurruk Singh / 14. The late Maharajah Ranjit Singh, 'in his usual attitude and dress' / 15. The horse and groom, and the jewels of Ranjit Singh, including the Koh-i-Noor (two plates on one card) / 16. Hunting leopards of the King of Oudh with attendants / 17. Arab servants of Sir Alexander Burnes / 18. A fakeer at an encampment / 19. A Hindoo student at Calcutta and a girl, the daughter of a servant (two plates on one card) / 20. Purtab Singh, a Sikh prince, murdered at Lahore / 21. A Shootr-Suwar, a camel despatch rider / 22. The Rajah of Nahun and sons; Anund Musseeh, a convert to Christianity (two plates on one card) / 23. Tibetan tartars, traders, sketched at Simla / 24. A Zemindar and a Pathan / 25. Lord Auckland receiving the Rajah of Nahun in Durbar.

A rare, printed copy of Emily Eden's important work, probably one of only a handful of copies published in this form. Through vivid portraits and rich illustrations, she skillfully captures the lives of Indian rulers and their families.

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 a young 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 the travel books Up the Country and Letters from India. She is also known for her novels The Semi-detached House and The Semi-attached Couple.

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