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Robert Montgomery Martin, The Indian Empire Illustrated, London: London Printing and Publishing Company Limited, 48 parts, [1858–c.1861]

Forty-eight original fascicules of The Indian Empire Illustrated are each housed in their original orange pictorial wrappers, which feature elaborate wood-engraved cover vignettes depicting a royal procession with an elephant and domed Mughal-style architecture; they are printed in multiple parts and decorative borders with titles printed in black and red. Cover with the letterpress caption “MUTINIES IN INDIA!” and the subtitle “From the Earliest Period to the Suppression of the Revolt.” These fascicules are stitched along the spine, and the total number of illustrations varies per issue, typically ranging from 1 to 4 per part. Additionally, some parts include extra notices to subscribers and announcements for “Premium Plates,” notably featuring the Storming of Delhi engraving in the final part. Housed within a bespoke archival solander chest, the box is covered in hand-marbled paper over blue morocco-style cloth sides, with the lid secured with ribbon ties and the interior lined in textured red faux-suede marbled paper. A gilt-lettered black leather label is attached to the side panel, reading “THE INDIAN EMPIRE ILLUSTRATED/PART 1–48.”
11 x 7.5 in (28.3 x 19.5 cm) (each)
6.75 x 12.75 x 9.75 in (17.5 x 32.5 x 25 cm) (solander box)

FROM REBELLION TO REPRESENTATION: THE INDIAN EMPIRE ILLUSTRATED, FORTY-EIGHT PARTS IN ORIGINAL CONDITION
A Complete Pictorial Chronicle of British India in the Wake of 1857

Originally issued in serial format, The Indian Empire Illustrated was a monumental mid-19th-century visual publication designed to provide subscribers with vivid pictorial representations of British India, its architecture, scenery, military exploits, and native life, accompanied by descriptive texts. The full series was often later bound into two or three volumes. The parts include finely engraved illustrations after contemporary artists, offering visual commentary on both the quotidian and the imperial spectacle.

Issued in serial form around 1858–1860, during and just after the violent Indian Rebellion of 1857, the work reflects the anxiety, imperial pride, and fascination that characterised British perceptions of India in the wake of the uprising. The cover of this part—boldly declaring “MUTINIES IN INDIA!”—is ”evidence of the sensationalist marketing often used to attract subscribers during this period.

The contents typically covered major cities such as Delhi, Lucknow, Agra, Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, along with iconic monuments like the Taj Mahal, Qutb Minar, and Shalimar Gardens. Texts combined historical vignettes, architectural commentary, and ethnographic generalisations, often framed through a colonial lens. The publication was intended both as an educational tool and a pictorial testament to the British Empire’s civilising mission.

First issued in London in the late 1850s by the enterprising London Printing and Publishing Company, The Indian Empire Illustrated offered British readers an ambitious visual digest of India’s topography, peoples, customs, architecture, and imperial campaigns. Rendered through richly detailed engravings and accompanied by accessible explanatory text, the work fed a growing Victorian appetite for exotic imagery and imperial narratives following the traumatic events of the 1857 Uprising.

While the majority of extant examples of The Indian Empire Illustrated survive in consolidated, bound volumes—often stripped of their original wrappers and rearranged by later bookbinders—this set is preserved in its complete, original 48-part serial format, as issued. Each fascicule retains its vivid orange pictorial wrapper, printed with wood-engraved illustrations, advertisements, and publisher’s announcements. Most remarkably, the set includes the original notices to subscribers and announcements of premium plates, such as the large-format engraving of The Storming of Delhi, which were often omitted in later bound compilations.

This unbound serial format not only retains the publication’s original material and graphic identity but also reveals the period’s publishing practices and distribution mechanics. The ephemeral wrappers offer additional layers of historical evidence—advertisements, typography, pricing, and subscription logistics—that are typically lost in later hardbound editions. The cumulative effect is a more immersive, archival experience, closer to how contemporary readers first encountered the work.

The novelty of this presentation lies not only in its rarity but also in its integrity as a serialised visual archive of British India. The set is remarkably well preserved. Housed in a bespoke archival box designed to echo the 19th-century aesthetics, this is an exceptional survival of a popular imperial publication in its original retail state, seldom encountered complete.

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