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George Powell Thomas, Views of Simla, London: Dickinson & Co., [c.1846]

1 Lithographed title-page + 23 tinted lithographed plates after drawings by George Powell Thomas, lithographed by Dickinson & Co., London, and accompanied by descriptive letterpress; rebound in contemporary full leather with ornamental floral pattern debossed on the front and back boards, original cloth-gilt title label affixed to front cover, new endpapers
21.5 x 14.75 in (55 x 37.5 cm)

LIST OF PLATES
1. Waterfall below Simla / 2. Suspension Bridge at Hurreepoor / 3. Simla from Rock Cottage / 4. Combermere Bridge / 5. View from the back of Jacko / 6. View from Colonel Chadwick's House, Muhasoo / 7. Simla from the Mount / 8. Simla and the Plains. A View of Colonel Rich's House / 9. View from the House Called the "Eagle's Nest" / 10. Stirling Castle and Lord Auckland's House / 11. View of Captain The Hon. H B Dalzell's House / 12. Fancy Fair at Annadale / 13. Race Course at Annadale / 14. Kilmanack from the road to Annadale / 15. On the Road to the Chor / 16. Ford on the road to Chor / 17. A Village on the Road to the Chor / 18. Pathurnullah from the road to the Chor / 19. The Chor from below Surrah / 20. The snowy range from Huttoo / 21. Jumnootree / 22. The Snowy Range from a Height of 10,000 feet / 23. Temple and Pine Forest at Deotee / 24. The Borinda Pass

The folio comes with an added facsimile print titled “North & South Elevation of the Benaras College”

PICTURESQUE PRECISION: GEORGE POWELL THOMAS’S VIEWS OF SIMLA, LITHOGRAPHED BY DICKINSON & CO., C.1846

Views of Simla by George Powell Thomas is among the earliest and most visually refined pictorial records of Shimla (then Simla)—the Himalayan hill station that would soon become the summer capital of British India. Published around 1846, this rare folio documents the town’s development just as it was emerging as a key administrative and sanatorium outpost following the First Anglo-Sikh War.

Comprising twelve exquisitely tinted lithographs, the volume captures the dramatic topography, colonial architecture, and scenic grandeur of the hill station. The views range from broad panoramas of Simla ridge to detailed renderings of British bungalows, military outposts, and wooded valleys. Many are elevated perspectives, reflecting the vantage points favoured by artists working in the tradition of topographical survey.

George Powell Thomas was an officer in the British Army and an accomplished draughtsman. His keen observational skill and crisp linear style, enhanced by the expert lithographic work of Dickinson & Co., result in compositions that are both picturesque and topographically accurate. The letterpress commentary offers concise yet informative annotations, providing context for each view.

Published by Dickinson, one of the foremost lithographic houses of the era (noted for their collaborations with David Roberts and Thomas Shotter Boys), the work belongs to a select genre of early British hill-station views—preceding the better-known chromolithographs of the later Victorian period.

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