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Photographic Society of India, The Journal of the Photographic Society of India, Volumes VIII–X and XII, Calcutta: Photographic Society of India (for Vols. VIII, X, XII); Thacker, Spink and Co. (for Vol. IX), 1895–1899

4 Volumes
Volume VIII (1895): vi + 216 pages includes several mounted photo-etched, photogravure, and collotype plates from photographs and in-text illustrations; original publisher’s decorative green cloth, upper board lettered diagonally in black "Journal of the Photographic Society of India," enclosed within a double-ruled black border with ornamental corner pieces; spine with gilt text
Volume IX (1896): vi + 216 pages feature multiple photo-etched, photogravure, and collotype plates from photographs and technical diagrams.
Volume X (1897): viii + 271-460 pages contain a series of photographic reproductions and illustrative content.
Volume XII (1899): vi + 230 pages richly illustrated with photo-etched, photogravure, and collotype plates from photographs and detailed engravings.
Volume IX, X, and XII rebound in matching contemporary half-green morocco over black pebbled leather-covered boards, the spines with raised bands in five compartments, gilt-stamped decorative fleuron tools in compartments and gilt ruling to bands and covers, contrasting red morocco labels lettered in gilt with volume number and year, and new endpapers

Volume X shows a photo-etching of an X-ray of the hand of the Earl of Elgin, who was the Viceroy and Governor General of India, wearing two rings (March 1897, opposite page 254). This photograph is an early example of X-ray photography and is credited to the Survey of India Offices.

FROM ELGIN’S X-RAY TO THE AMATEUR’S LENS: RARE VOLUMES OF THE JOURNAL OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF INDIA, A CHRONICLE OF COLONIAL IMAGE-MAKING

Founded in the late 19th century during the apex of British colonial rule in India, The Journal of the Photographic Society of India stands as one of the earliest and most significant platforms for the photographic arts and sciences on the subcontinent. Established by the Photographic Society of India in Calcutta (now Kolkata)—a city that served as both the intellectual and administrative nucleus of British India—the journal reflects a unique confluence of imperial, scientific, and artistic ambition.

Published quarterly, the journal served as both a practical manual and a cultural register. It offered technical advice for amateur and professional photographers, critical commentary on exhibitions in India and Britain, and extensive coverage of the society’s meetings, competitions, and member contributions. Each volume contains richly illustrated articles, some of which feature original mounted photographs—typically albumen or gelatin silver prints—executed by leading colonial practitioners and enthusiastic amateurs alike.

The journal was particularly notable for addressing the unique climatic and logistical challenges faced by photographers working in India. Contributors frequently discussed the limitations imposed by high humidity, the temperature sensitivity of early emulsions, and the physical demands of transporting darkroom equipment into the field. Despite such challenges, the journal promoted an image of photography as both a gentleman’s science and an artistic pursuit. Its pages frequently featured expeditions to architectural and archaeological sites, documentation of ethnographic types, and landscape studies—underscoring photography’s dual role as empirical record and aesthetic object.

In the 1890s, a period of significant technological transformation (the shift from wet plate collodion to dry plates and roll film), the journal served as a chronicle of innovation. It tracked the rise of smaller, more portable cameras, the introduction of halftone printing processes, and the growing availability of photographic chemicals and equipment manufactured in Britain and Germany. The journal's advertisements, which often appear alongside scholarly content, are themselves a window into the burgeoning photographic economy of colonial India.

The present lot is a rare assemblage of four non-consecutive volumes (Vols. VIII, IX, X, and XII) of the influential The Journal of the Photographic Society of India: The Official Organ of the Society, one of the earliest photographic periodicals chronicles the evolution of photography in colonial India. The Journal was issued irregularly by the Society from its Calcutta headquarters and includes a mix of technical articles, equipment reviews, Society news, exhibition results, and photographic illustrations contributed by both British and Indian members. Among its contributors during this period were E.H. Aitken ("Eha"), W.W. Webb, and other amateur and professional photographers associated with colonial administration, science, and archaeology.

Significantly, The Journal of the Photographic Society of India reveals how colonial visual culture was shaped and circulated through the medium of photography. The publication participated in the imperial project of cataloguing, documenting, and often aestheticising India and its peoples. However, it also created a space—albeit limited—where Indian photographers and patrons could engage with this new visual medium, both as practitioners and as subjects.

Few complete runs of the journal have survived intact. Its fragility, limited circulation, and the ephemeral nature of early photographic publishing make extant copies exceedingly rare. As such, it is not only a valuable source for historians of photography but also for scholars of colonialism, media studies, and South Asian visual culture.

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