Beschreibung:

Napier (Sir Charles James 1782-1853). Autograph letter signed as governor of Sind to Sir Henry Bunbury (1778-1860), 7th Baronet, Hyderabad, Sind, 29 May 1844, 'I have got through, in this infernal frying pan, a great operation which I think seals the conquest ... By Lord E[llenborough']s orders ... we have had a meeting all of the chiefs and jaghirdars ... They are all wild to be led against the Punjaubees; and offered to follow me to the tune of 40 000 men ...', single bifolium, 4 pp., 5cm closed tear along central folds, a few other small nicks and chips, 4to (26 x 21.2 cm), together with: Autograph letter signed to Sir Henry Bunbury, Nice, 28 December 1847, on his time in India and his contemporary officers ('I told [Lord Dalhousie] what I thought he ought to know ... that he has not, in all India, a single General ... that deserves the name ... [and] that I had the highest opinion of Gough as regards every noble quality of heart, but that he had a potato for a head ...'), single bifolium, 4 pp., conjugate leaf with integral address panel verso, ink-stamps, seal-tear causing partial loss of 2 words, short closed tear to no loss, 4to (22.6 x 17.3 cm), Autograph note signed to William Potter, 9 December 1841, single bifolium, 1 p., 6 lines including date and signature, related newspaper cuttings on Napier mounted verso of first leaf and to conjugate blank, conjugate blank with recipient's address panel tipped in recto and mounting residue verso, 12mo (17.7 x 11.6 cm) (Qty: 3) Provenance (third item): Francis Edwards, 1966 (typescript purchase note). Napier's annexation of Sind territory was criticised by Gladstone's cabinet and many Company directors, and remains one the most contentious episodes in the history of British involvement in India. Sir Henry Bunbury, 7th Baronet, of Barton Hall near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was a prominent soldier and politician, and in his retirement an acclaimed military historian. He married Napier's sister Emily, his second wife, in 1830.