Tennent, Sir James Emerson

2 volumes, 8vo (220 x 140mm.), interleaved, extended and rebound into four volumes, folio (340 x 207mm.), extensively annotated by the author throughout, with numerous items of printed and manuscript material loosely inserted and bound in, contemporary green cloth, upper covers with large gilt stamped vignette of an elephant, flat spines numbered and lettered in gilt, edges uncut, the volumes preserved in four contemporary black half morocco boxes, boxes slightly rubbed

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 author's annotated copy of the fifth edition of his encyclopaedic History of Ceylon, disbound, interleaved and rebound into four folio volumes, containing extensive manuscript corrections, additions, notes, letters, photographs and ephemera for a revised and expanded sixth edition. This new edition would have been Tennent's definitive edition of his Ceylon but was never published, and survives in this unique unpublished form. Tennent's Ceylon was so successful that it ran to five editions in eight months, and remained the standard work on Ceylon into the twentieth-century.

A cutting from The Ceylon Observer (10th September 1868) prints a letter from Tennent dated 28th July 1868 in which the author states "I am now engaged in the preparation of a new edition of my work on Ceylon; and I am anxious to repeat the request which I pressed upon those acquainted with the Island, on the appearance of the book nearly ten years ago." The new edition was never published due to the author's sudden death in March 1869.

These volumes include autograph letters from J. Bailey, A. Wylie, R. Spence Hardy, John Davy, John Colebroke, William Skeen of the Government Printing Office in Colombo (enclosing 2 photographs of Ceylon by his son) and others; a presentation copy of W. Ferguson's Descriptive list of Ceylon Timber Trees (Colombo, 1863) with an autograph letter signed tipped in, a presentation copy of H. Schlegel's pamphlet Bijdrage tot de Geschiedenis van de olifanten, a copy of J. Nietner's Observations on the enemies of the Coffee Tree in Ceylon (Ceylon, 1861), and E.F. Kelaart's Report on the natural history of the pearl oyster (c.1859); and many newspaper cuttings from the Ceylon Observer.