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Captain George Francklin Atkinson, The Campaign in India. 1857-58: From drawings made during the eventful period of the great mutiny, illustrating the military operations before Delhi and its neighbourhood with descriptive letterpress, London: Day & Son. Lithographers to The Queen, 1859

42 pages, including 1 tinted lithograph title plate and 25 tinted lithographs, including 6 plates with two scenes, each with descriptive letterpress and red half-leather binding with original gilt-stamped pictorial front cover.
22.5 x 15 x 0.75 in (57.5 x 38 x 2 cm)

LIST OF PLATES
1. Sepoys at Rifle practice / 2. The first Bengal Fusiliers marching down from Dugshal / 3. Officers joining the force / 4. A scene in camp / 5. Troops hastening to Umballa / 6. Mutineers surprised by her Majesty's 9th Lancers / 7. Storming the batteries at Badle Serai / 8. The Outlying Picket / 9. Repulse of a sortie / 10. Reinforcements proceeding to Delhi / 11. Horse artillery in action / 12. Incident in the subzee mundee / 13. Interior of a tent / 14. Hodson's horse at Rhotuck / 15. Heavy day in the batteries / 16. Fusiliers bringing the captured guns into camp / 17. Sappers at work in the batteries / 18. Search for the wounded / 19. Advance of the siege train / 20. Troops of the native allies / 21. The storming of Delhi / 22. Mutinous sepoys / 23. Prize agents extracting treasure / 24. Capture and death of the Shahzadahs / 25. Wounded officers at Simla / 26. Wounded men at Dugsahi.

PICTURING THE MUTINY: ATKINSON’S ILLUSTRATED CHRONICLE OF THE DELHI CAMPAIGN, 1857–58

Published in 1859 by Day & Son, The Campaign in India, 1857–58 constitutes one of the most ambitious visual commemorations of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, specifically focusing on the Delhi campaign, one of the fiercest theatres of conflict. The author and artist, Captain George Francklin Atkinson, served in the Bengal Engineers, whose expertise in cartography, surveying, and siege warfare was critical to the British strategy in retaking rebel-held strongholds.

Atkinson’s visual record—produced contemporaneously with the events—comprises 26 tinted or hand-coloured lithographs drawn directly from field sketches. These lithographs, expertly executed by Day & Son, offer a blend of topographical accuracy and heightened drama. They depict moments of battlefield triumph, logistical operation, and imperial heroism. Particularly noteworthy are scenes such as Capture and Death of the Shahzadahs and Mutineers Surprised by Irregular Cavalry, which consolidate colonial mythologies of justice and retaliation.

Yet Atkinson’s plates are not merely celebratory. They also record the chaos and vulnerability of conflict, as seen in Search for the Wounded or Interior of a Tent, wherein British soldiers are depicted in states of exhaustion, camaraderie, and grief. In this way, the book bridges the gap between official reportage and the more affective registers of personalised visual testimony.

The accompanying letterpress commentary extends this narrative. Though often terse and military in tone, Atkinson occasionally breaks from detached observation to reflect on the psychological weight of siege warfare. His illustrations—spanning from pre-battle mobilisations to scenes of retribution and aftermath—reinforce the Victorian public’s perception of the 1857 uprising as both a moment of peril and a crucible of imperial destiny.

Importantly, the book also served a propagandistic function, designed to bolster British morale and justify imperial retribution. The visual language Atkinson employed—orderly troops, noble officers, disciplined sepoys loyal to the crown—helped sanitise the brutality of the rebellion and reinforced a narrative of imperial righteousness.

Today, The Campaign in India remains one of the most visually compelling and historically charged artistic documents of the uprising, comparable in gravitas and rarity to photographic portfolios by Felice Beato or drawings by William Simpson. Surviving complete copies—especially those hand-coloured—are scarce, with most institutional examples held in military archives or special collections.

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