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Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Series of Drawings of the Orders of Knighthood Conferred Upon the Duke of Wellington. [London, 1852]. Oblong 4to, half black calf, spine gilt in compartments, lettered directly in gilt in one, a.e.g.; 70 leaves including 34 coloured plates. It is unclear whether the copy is lacking a title-page or whether the colour plate of the Duke's arms serves the purpose. All plates are present as called for in the index on the final leaf. Seemingly scarce, with WorldCat only listing five copies. A dramatic and colourful display of honours (with accompanying background) richly illuminated with gold and silver on the plates.Binding rubbed and scuffed, cracking to head and foot of upper joint with short sections of spine detached, some slight, variable marginal staining to plates, plate 47 creased on inner margin with larger stain to upper left corner, some slight foxing. A very good copy of a rare and flashy work.
East-India Company Treaties and Grants from the Country Powers, to the East-India Company, Respecting their Presidency of Fort St. George, on the Coast of Choromandel; Fort-William, In Bengal; and Bombay, on the Coast of Malabar. From the Year 1756 to 1772. Printed in the Year, 1774. Bound with Proceedings of the Governor and Council at Fort William, &c. Respecting the Administration of Justice amongst the Natives in Bengal. Printed in the Year, 1774. 4to, calf-backed marbled boards; pp. [1-3]-258, [1]-10 (List of Treaties); [1-3], 138. Of the three great cities of the Company - Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta - the latter two owed their existence wholly to the eccentricities of man and the vicissitudes of fortune. The original settlement at Fort St. George was not auspicious. Francis Day, the Company Agent who settled there in 1640, evidently had a 'mistris' at St Thome, explaining the decision to pick desolate seafront a few minutes from the Portuguese. Day was so keen, he even offered to cover interest charges on money raised to build there. This became necessary when the original treaty turned out not to require the naik to pay for the fort as the company believed - a perfectly reasonable understanding, only discovered after they had already moved there. Madras would eventually prosper, but against all odds. The story of Fort William and Calcutta meanwhile is a sordid mix of political chaos and corporate greed. The Company was in a difficult position in the 17th century. They were beholden to the treaties of Moghul Emperors, and outside their strongholds had little privilege. That is not to say the Emperors did not need them - they needed gold and silver to prosecute the continual wars of the area. The Company was irritating but necessary. It was into this setting that Job Charnock came. Via a series of strange events, a wheeler-dealer with no military experience would eventually command an assault on one of the most powerful Empires in Asia. With 308 men. Driven out of Hughli, he headed twenty miles downriver and landed at what would eventually become Calcutta. After an increasingly bloody and ludicrous series of engagements a commercial spirit was re-established, and the Company settled at what would become one of its most significant cities. By the time of these Treaties the Company had long considered itself a Sovereign State in India, holding its Presidencies responsible for the enforcement of law, and especially duties, in their regions. The Treaties begin immediately after the French assault and seizing of Madras (returned after the Peace of Aix); the chaos of the Carnatic wars; and the recapture of Calcutta after its ignominious fall - and the attendant horrors of the Black Hole. The tenor of the time can be seen in the concerns for the disposition of the French; the confirmation of ownership and legal powers over settlements; restitution of captured forts and materiel; and careful declaration of shared enemies. The Plenipotentiary powers of Clive and his companions would determine the daily lives of those in Company territories. The Hon. Company remains perhaps unique in the annals of corporate history for blurring the lines between company and nation state. It conducted warfare, signed treaties, and did so not under a national flag, but a corporate logo. Today, it would be as if the Maersk Line or Microsoft deployed a private army to create a city in Pakistan working entirely for their needs. All of Anglo-India was born from the initial forays of the Company; its history is the history of the Raj. This period of Clive of India ultimately created the fusing of mercantilism and monarchy which gave Victoria her Jewel.
English School Circa 1780 Oval Portrait Miniature. Gold frame, the reverse with engraved border, approx 67mm x 54 mm.Note: Purchased at the Christie's Sale November 2013 A Life's Devotion: The Collection of the Late Mrs T.S Eliot esteemed editor, astute collector, dedicated philanthropist and supporter of literature and The Arts. Wife of T.S Eliot author, playwright and poet.
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