FRANS BALTHAZAR SOLVYNS (1760-1824) Les Hindoûs . Paris: chez l'Auteur, 1808-1812. 48 parts in 4 volumes, 2° (569 x 400mm). Text in English and French. Half-titles, 4 titles with hand-coloured etched vignettes of views and a portrait of Solvyns, 288 etched plates, partly printed in colour, partly hand-coloured, including 36 double-page plates. (Double-page plates backed with linen, spotted throughout, heaviest to vol. I and three double-page plates in vol. III, 2 plates and one text leaf in vol. II with very minor marginal tears without loss, pl.58 with irregularly wiped plate tone, 5 plates at the beginning of vol. II lightly creased at top corner.) Contemporary quarter calf over green marbled paper-covered boards, by Antoine Chaumont (Paris binder's ticket), gilt spines, marbled endpapers (rebacked, preserving original spines, edges and corners strengthened, extremities rubbed). A RARE COLOURED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION. Arranged in sections, the four volumes illustrate the customs, festivals, occupations, caste system and costume of the Hindus, encompassing all social classes. The images are of tradesmen and their tools, princes, doctors (vol. I), dances, religious devotees, different types of musical instruments, customs associated with marriage and death (vol. II), types of boats, games, modes of transportation, games and various methods of smoking (vol. III), classes of domestic servant and native flora and fauna (vol. IV). The accompanying text provides explanations and descriptions of Hindu customs and habits, such as the rituals of religious ceremonies, meetings for conversation, servants' duties and the cultivation of plants for domestic use. A native of Antwerp, Balthazar Solvyns arrived in India in 1791. In 1792 He provided illustrations for a report Alexander Kyd's (the Surveyor-General in Calcutta) expedition to Penang and the Andaman Islands. Later, he produced his comprehensive work on India, A Collection of Two Hundred and Fifty Coloured Etchings Descriptive of the Manners, Customs, and Dress of the Hindoos (Calcutta, 1799, 4°). The present lot is the much enlarged and improved French folio edition of this work, published in 48 parts from 1808-1812, the English translation made by his English wife, Mary Anne Greenwood Solvyns. Abbey Travel 430; Brunet V, 432; Colas 2767; not in Lipperheide. (4)
FRANS BALTHAZAR SOLVYNS (1760-1824) Les Hindoûs . Paris: chez l'Auteur, 1808-1812. 48 parts in 4 volumes, 2° (569 x 400mm). Text in English and French. Half-titles, 4 titles with hand-coloured etched vignettes of views and a portrait of Solvyns, 288 etched plates, partly printed in colour, partly hand-coloured, including 36 double-page plates. (Double-page plates backed with linen, spotted throughout, heaviest to vol. I and three double-page plates in vol. III, 2 plates and one text leaf in vol. II with very minor marginal tears without loss, pl.58 with irregularly wiped plate tone, 5 plates at the beginning of vol. II lightly creased at top corner.) Contemporary quarter calf over green marbled paper-covered boards, by Antoine Chaumont (Paris binder's ticket), gilt spines, marbled endpapers (rebacked, preserving original spines, edges and corners strengthened, extremities rubbed). A RARE COLOURED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION. Arranged in sections, the four volumes illustrate the customs, festivals, occupations, caste system and costume of the Hindus, encompassing all social classes. The images are of tradesmen and their tools, princes, doctors (vol. I), dances, religious devotees, different types of musical instruments, customs associated with marriage and death (vol. II), types of boats, games, modes of transportation, games and various methods of smoking (vol. III), classes of domestic servant and native flora and fauna (vol. IV). The accompanying text provides explanations and descriptions of Hindu customs and habits, such as the rituals of religious ceremonies, meetings for conversation, servants' duties and the cultivation of plants for domestic use. A native of Antwerp, Balthazar Solvyns arrived in India in 1791. In 1792 He provided illustrations for a report Alexander Kyd's (the Surveyor-General in Calcutta) expedition to Penang and the Andaman Islands. Later, he produced his comprehensive work on India, A Collection of Two Hundred and Fifty Coloured Etchings Descriptive of the Manners, Customs, and Dress of the Hindoos (Calcutta, 1799, 4°). The present lot is the much enlarged and improved French folio edition of this work, published in 48 parts from 1808-1812, the English translation made by his English wife, Mary Anne Greenwood Solvyns. Abbey Travel 430; Brunet V, 432; Colas 2767; not in Lipperheide. (4)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
