Christopher Webb Smith and Sir Charles D'Oyly (1781-1845) Oriental Ornithology . [Patna]: Behar Lithographic Press, [1828]-1829. Oblong 2° (276 x 430mm). Mounted hand-coloured lithographic title and 12 mounted hand-coloured lithographic plates after Smith and D'Oyly, all heightened with gum arabic. (Light spotting, lacking text.) Contemporary olive-green half morocco gilt over blind stamped patterned cloth, the spine divided into compartments with raised bands and latitudinal gilt fillets, gilt burgundy morocco lettering-piece (lower board slightly bowed, joints and head and tail of spine lightly rubbed, corners rubbed). Provenance : F.S.H. (inscription on front free endpaper). An interesting work, illustrated with Smith's depictions of birds, set against D'Oyly's evocative indian backgrounds: 'the colouring is extremely good and contains much detailed brush work, in most cases the black printing for the bird being the merest key' (Abbey). Born in India in 1781, Sir Charles D'Oyly was educated in England and returned to Calcutta aged 16, where he took up the position of assistant to the registrar of the court of appeal. He remained in India in the civil service of the East India Company for the next forty years, holding the posts, inter alia , of opium agent at Behar and commercial resident at Patna, before leaving for Europe in 1838 because of his failing health. Bishop Heber, who noted that D'Oyly had been a student of Chinnery's, described D'Oyly as 'the best gentleman artist I ever met with' (Abbey Travel 446), and it is likely that The Behar Amateur Lithographic Press was established to give D'Oyly's work a wider audience. Abbey reckons the life of the press at 'about two years only', during which it produced a small number of works illustrated by D'Oyly, including 3 relating to the zoology of the subcontinent: Indian Sports ([?1828]), D'Oyly and Smith's The Feathered Game of Hindostan (1828) and the present work. Of the 3 other copies of Oriental Ornithology cited by Abbey, only the Cambridge University Library copy contains the text, the Field Museum, Canada (cf. Zimmer) and McGill University, Montreal copies (cf. Wood) lacking it, as does the copy cited by Fine Bird Books (1990). Abbey Travel 453; Fine Bird Books (1990) p.143; Nissen IVB 881; Wood p.570; Zimmer p.595.
Christopher Webb Smith and Sir Charles D'Oyly (1781-1845) Oriental Ornithology . [Patna]: Behar Lithographic Press, [1828]-1829. Oblong 2° (276 x 430mm). Mounted hand-coloured lithographic title and 12 mounted hand-coloured lithographic plates after Smith and D'Oyly, all heightened with gum arabic. (Light spotting, lacking text.) Contemporary olive-green half morocco gilt over blind stamped patterned cloth, the spine divided into compartments with raised bands and latitudinal gilt fillets, gilt burgundy morocco lettering-piece (lower board slightly bowed, joints and head and tail of spine lightly rubbed, corners rubbed). Provenance : F.S.H. (inscription on front free endpaper). An interesting work, illustrated with Smith's depictions of birds, set against D'Oyly's evocative indian backgrounds: 'the colouring is extremely good and contains much detailed brush work, in most cases the black printing for the bird being the merest key' (Abbey). Born in India in 1781, Sir Charles D'Oyly was educated in England and returned to Calcutta aged 16, where he took up the position of assistant to the registrar of the court of appeal. He remained in India in the civil service of the East India Company for the next forty years, holding the posts, inter alia , of opium agent at Behar and commercial resident at Patna, before leaving for Europe in 1838 because of his failing health. Bishop Heber, who noted that D'Oyly had been a student of Chinnery's, described D'Oyly as 'the best gentleman artist I ever met with' (Abbey Travel 446), and it is likely that The Behar Amateur Lithographic Press was established to give D'Oyly's work a wider audience. Abbey reckons the life of the press at 'about two years only', during which it produced a small number of works illustrated by D'Oyly, including 3 relating to the zoology of the subcontinent: Indian Sports ([?1828]), D'Oyly and Smith's The Feathered Game of Hindostan (1828) and the present work. Of the 3 other copies of Oriental Ornithology cited by Abbey, only the Cambridge University Library copy contains the text, the Field Museum, Canada (cf. Zimmer) and McGill University, Montreal copies (cf. Wood) lacking it, as does the copy cited by Fine Bird Books (1990). Abbey Travel 453; Fine Bird Books (1990) p.143; Nissen IVB 881; Wood p.570; Zimmer p.595.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
