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First edition (1881)
Sir William Wilson Hunter, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, London: Trübner & Co., 1881, 9 volumes; uniformly bound in contemporary or slightly later brown half morocco over matching dark brown boards, spines in five compartments ruled in gilt, lettered and dated in gilt (each)
Vol. I – Akbar to Benaras: xxxiv, 544 pp; Vol. II: Bengal to Cutwa, 539 pp; Vol. III: Dabha to Harduaganj, 567 pp; Vol. IV: Hardwar-Jalalpur-Nahvi, 716 pp; Vol. V: Jalandhar to Kywon-Pya-That, 509 pp; Vol. VI: Labanakhya to Mysore, 533 pp; Vol. VII: Naaf to Rangmagiri, 555 pp; Vol. VIII: Rangoon to Tappal, 537 pp; Vol. IX: Tapti-Zut-Thut and Index, 478 pp.

Second edition (1885-87)
Sir William Wilson Hunter, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, London: Trübner & Co., 1885–1887, 14 volumes; bound in contemporary or slightly later dark green half morocco over green textured cloth boards, spines in five compartments with gilt tooling, title, volume number, and year lettered in gilt, library shelf labels to lower spines (each)

Vol. I – Abar to Balasinor: xxxviii, 460 pp; Vol. II – Balasor to Biramganta: xxii, 462 pp; Vol. III – Birbhum to Cocanada: 472 pp; Vol. IV – Cochin to Ganguria: 479 pp; Vol. V – Ganjam to Indi: 511 pp; Vol. VI – India: xxix, 747 pp; Vol. VII – Indore to Kardong: 477 pp; Vol. VIII – Karens to Madnagarh: 544 pp; Vol. IX – Madras Presidency to Multai: 539 pp; Vol. X – Mulltan to Palhalli: 544 pp; Vol. XI – Pali to Ratia: 518 pp; Vol. XII – Ratlam to Sirmur: 556 pp; Vol. XIII – Sirohi to Zumkha: 562 pp; Vol. XIV – Index: 350 pp

Third edition (1907–1931)
Herbert Hope Risley (1851-1911), ed.; R Burn, W S Meyer, and J S Cotton (co-editors), The Imperial Gazetteer of India, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907–1909 (Text Volumes); 1931 (Atlas), 26 volumes comprising 4 volumes on The Indian Empire, 20 volumes of the Alphabetical Gazetteer, 1 index volume, and 1 atlas; a mixed set in two styles of bindings: Volumes I–IV (The Indian Empire), and the Atlas volume in original publishers dark green cloth, titled and bordered in gilt to spine, Greek key pattern at head and foot; Volumes V–XXV uniformly bound in matching dark green cloth, spines ruled and titled in gilt in compartments, these volumes later restored in matching green half morocco over cloth boards, with gilt fillets and blind ruling.

Vols. I–IV: The Indian Empire
Vol. I – Descriptive: xxxi, 568 pp; Vol. II – Historical: xxxv, 573 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. III – Economic: xxxvi, 520 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. IV – Administrative: xxx, 552 pp, with 1 folding map.

Vols. V–XXIV: Alphabetical Gazetteer (A–Zira)
Each volume is approximately xx–xxiii prelims + 540–570 pp, with the following alphabetical spans:

Vol. V – Abazai–Arcot: xvii, 437 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. VI – Argaon–Bardwan: vi, 432 pp with 1 large folding map; Vol. VII – Bareilly–Berasia: xvi, 423 pp with 2 folding maps; Vol. VIII – Berhampore–Bombay: xvi, 421 pp with 3 folding maps; Vol. IX – Bomjur–Central India: vi, 392 pp with 2 folding maps; Vol. X – Central Provinces–Coompta: vi, 390 pp with 1 folding map; Vol. XI – Coondapoor–Edwardesabad: vi, 403 pp with 2 folding maps; Vol. XII – Einme–Gwalior: vi, 443 pp with 2 folding maps; Vol. XIII – Gyaraspur–Jais: vi, 402 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. XIV – Jaisalmer–Kara: vi, 416 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. XV – Karachi–Kotayam: vi, 426 pp, with 1 large folding map; Vol. XVI – Kotchandpur–Mahavinyaka: vi, 438 pp with 1 folding map; Vol. XVII – Mahbubabad–Moradabad: vi, 430 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. XVIII – Moram–Nayagarh: xxii prelims; 552 pp.; Vol. XIX – Nayakanthatti–Parbhani: vi, 416 pp, with 2 folding maps; Vol. XX – Pardi–Pusad: vi, 423 pp, with 2 folding maps; Vol. XXI – Pushkar–Salween: vi, 423 pp, with 2 folding maps; Vol. XXII – Samadhiala–Singhana: vi, 435 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. XXIII – Singhbhum–Trashi-Chod-Zong: vi, 435 pp, with 1 folding map; Vol. XXIV – Travancore–Zira: vi, 437 pp, with 1 folding map

Vol. XXV: Index Volume
Vol. XXV – Index: xxx, 631 pp, with 1 folding map
A comprehensive index to over 20,000 entries, covering administrative units, geographical features, and princely states.

Vol. XXVI: Atlas Volume
Vol. XXVI – Atlas: vii, 45 pp of explanatory text and 64 large colour lithographed maps (many double-page or folding), folio format (approx. 43 x 34 cm).
Maps include political divisions, population density, language groups, railways, forest cover, rainfall, tribes, castes, and provincial boundaries.

A COMPLETE RUN OF ALL THREE EDITIONS OF THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA —THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE STATISTICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA, COMPILED OVER FIVE DECADES

Few reference works encapsulate the bureaucratic ambition and intellectual logic of empire as completely as The Imperial Gazetteer of India. First conceived in the 1860s by Sir William Wilson Hunter, the Gazetteer was born from the colonial government’s need for accurate, standardised administrative data. District reports were being produced across India, but in varying formats and with inconsistent detail. Hunter’s vision was to bring coherence to this body of information—to render the British Raj legible to itself.

Spanning over five decades of compilation, revision, and republication, The Imperial Gazetteer evolved from a basic statistical survey into the most comprehensive geographical, administrative, and ethnographic record of the subcontinent ever produced under British rule. The project, eventually supported by the India Office and executed by Oxford University Press, underwent three major iterations. The first edition (1881, 9 vols.) laid the foundation for imperial reference-making, and the second edition (1885–87, 14 vols.) laid the groundwork and expanded significantly on the regional and administrative entries. But it was the third edition (1907–1931, 26 vols.) that truly embodied the encyclopaedic breadth of the British colonial project. The final edition included:
– Four thematic volumes titled The Indian Empire;
– Twenty gazetteer volumes arranged alphabetically;
– An index volume;
– And a large folio Atlas prepared by the Survey of India.

As a unified collection, this complete set constitutes the most ambitious encyclopaedic project undertaken by the British colonial government in India—a work both of extraordinary informational scale and of enduring historical significance. Rarely encountered in such completeness, especially with the atlas volume present, it remains an indispensable resource for the study of imperial knowledge production, cartography, and the administrative imagination of the British Raj.

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