Daniell, Thomas and William

6 parts in 3 volumes, folio (730 x 520mm.), 6 sepia aquatint titles, and 144 finely hand-coloured aquatint plates by Thomas and William Daniell (those in Hindoo Excavations after James Wales) on thick paper, 8 sepia engraved plans dated 1803, all mounted on guards, no interleaves, no watermarks visible on the plates, Abbey's Part 5 plates 102-104 and 116-117 mounted as folding 3-plate and 2-plate panoramas respectively, good margins throughout, the set bound so that Parts 3 and 5 are bound together in a volume titled Antiquities and Excavations on spine, uniform nineteenth-century tan half morocco, gilt edges, plates in part 2 with faint spotting, the other parts with occasional light spotting, corners, joints and edges a little rubbed, minor staining to cloth

Earl of Bradford, Weston Park, armorial bookplate, sale in these rooms, 15 March 2000, lot 16

Abbey, Travel 420; Tooley (1954) 172

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"The finest illustrated work ever published on India" (Tooley).

Thomas Daniell and his nephew William spent some nine years, from 1785 to 1794, in India making their studies, sketches and drawings of the scenery, architecture and antiquities there and then devoted a further thirteen years to publishing their remarkably accurate aquatints. The work is arranged in six parts, and is here bound so that the two parts which deal with excavations (Hindoo Excavations) and antiquities (Antiquities of India) appear together. The present set contains the eight engraved plans cited by Tooley but thought by Abbey to appear only in the 1812-1816 4to edition. It also contains the twelve supplementary plates in the Antiquities of India section which were issued without title on completion of the final part of the work.

Oriental Scenery was a costly work at the time of publication, being offered at 200 guineas. This compares with the price of about £100 for the hand-coloured lithographs of David Roberts's Holy Land, issued some fifty years later. The work was in large measure responsible for the early nineteenth-century fashion for Indian-inspired architecture in England, reflected in the works of, for example, Humphry Repton and John Nash.

See also catalogue frontispiece for another illustration from this work.