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Baden Henry Baden-Powell, Hand-book of the Economic Products of the Punjab, with a Combined Index and Glossary of Technical Vernacular Words, Roorkee: Thomason Civil Engineering College Press, 1868; Lahore: Punjab Printing Company, 1872. First edition. 2 volumes.

Volume I (1868): xxxv, 609 pp., with [28] part-mounted lithographed or wood-engraved plates (some botanical), [16] wood-engraved text illustrations mainly diagram of agricultural specimens, and [2] full-page or fold-out maps showing distribution of flora and administrative divisions, lxxxix
10.5 x 7 x 2 in (27 x 18 x 5 cm)
Volume II (1872): xxxv, 358 pp., with [26] part-mounted lithographed or wood-engraved plates, many depicting manufacturing implements, techniques, and product samples; [14] technical illustrations embedded in text of process diagrams; and [1] fold-out map or technical schematic related to industrial layout or method, xxv
9.75 x 7.25 x 1.25 in (25 x 18.5 x 3.5 cm)
Contemporary half-black morocco over pebbled dark blue cloth-covered boards, spine with five gilt-ruled compartments and gilt-lettered titles; upper covers with double-rule blind borders and elaborate blind-stamped arabesque corner ornaments; new endpapers; edges untrimmed (each)

FROM FIBRE TO FORGE: BADEN-POWELL’S HAND-BOOK OF THE ECONOMIC PRODUCTS OF THE PUNJAB, 1868–72 - A Foundational Survey of Colonial Botany, Industry, and Vernacular Knowledge

Compiled and edited by Baden Henry Baden-Powell, a senior officer in the Punjab Civil Service, this Hand-book represents a landmark colonial attempt to document and categorise the region’s economic resources. Published in two parts between 1868 and 1872, it is one of the most ambitious and detailed catalogues of raw materials and industrial crafts of British India’s northwestern provinces, particularly Punjab.

Volume I deals primarily with unprocessed products—such as metals, minerals, timber, agricultural crops, oils, fibres, gums, and resins—and integrates economic botany with ethnographic insight. This portion draws heavily from the exhibits prepared for the Punjab Exhibition (Lahore), and includes notes based on material submitted by field officers, scientists, and forest conservators such as Dr John Lindsay Stewart, whose work on the flora of the region was pioneering.

Volume II, subtitled Manufactures and Arts of the Punjab, extends the inquiry into the domain of vernacular industry — including textiles, pottery, woodworking, metallurgy, and indigenous medicinal practices. It is supported by a Combined Index and Glossary of Technical Vernacular Words, which offers transliterations and definitions of local terms, underscoring the multilingual and multicultural complexity of colonial Punjab.

Baden-Powell’s editorial framework reflects the emerging colonial agenda of resource extraction, classification, and standardisation. Yet, the depth of description, local references, and technical detail also render the book a rich source for historians of science, postcolonial scholars, and collectors of early economic or botanical literature from the Indian subcontinent.

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