Asiatic Costumes: a Series of forty-four coloured engravings

Very good copy of this rare book of Indian costume by Captain Robert Smith, 44th Regiment

Complete with 44 finely hand-coloured engravings of Indian men and women of all castes

Captain Robert Smith (1792-1882), was a soldier in the British line regiment H.M. 44th (East Essex) Foot, and served in India from 1825-33. He prepared an illustrated diary of Indian views from 1828-33 and drew various panoramas of Indian cities, all now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

"The representations of Asiatic Costumes composing this collection are engraved from drawings taken during a short residence in India. Most of them were sketched from life; but, to make the series more complate, a few have been copied from drawings by a native artist. The short descriptions annexed to the several figures are chiefly from notes taken on the spot."

Includes a dozen fascinating depictions of dancing girls and boys and musicians from a Nautch party. Girls dance and sing to music from sarangi and tabla drums. The frontispiece shows a bhugteea (or bhugteeay) transvestite boy dancing. There are servants and tradesmen, nobles riding on elephants, British colonizers riding on sedan chairs, Sepoys, fakirs and Muslims, low-caste labourers and Brahmin.

List of plates: 1. B'hugtee'a or Dancing Boy. 2. Nautch (or Nantch), or Singing Girl. 3. Nautch girl, or Dancing Girl. 4. Nautch Girl, or Singing Girl. 5. Nautch Girl, or Singing Girl. 6. Female playing on the Tumboors. 7. Musician playing on the Tumboora. 8. Musician, playing on the Saringee. 9. Musician, playing on the Cymbals. 10. Musician, with a pair of Drums. 11. Musician, with a Khole or Drum. 12. Khidmutgar, or Waiter. 13. Khidmutgar, or Fly-flapper. 14. Barburdar, or Steward. 15. Hoqqu-burdar, or Pipe-bearer. 16. Chob-dar, or Mace bearer. 17. Choukee-dar, or Watchman. 18. Shaprasse, or Porter. 19. Suntoo-burdar, or Running Footman. 20. Dauk-Wala, or Postman. 21. Surcar, or Agent. 22. Ch'hata-wala, or Umbrella carrier. 23. Barburdar, or Fan-bearer. 24. Daee or Ayah, a Nurse. 25. Girl stringing Flowers for Wreaths. 26. Woman preparing Thread for the Loom. 27. Gardener. 28. Native of Bengal, selling Sweetmeats. 29. Bihishtee, or Water Carrier. 30. Dood'h-wala, or Milkman. 31. Bangy-Wala. 32. Ryot, or Ploughman. 33. Sepoy, or Native Soldier. 34. Native Lady in her Palkee. 35. Tonjon. 36. Native of Rank on an Elephant. 37. Moonshee, or Interpreter. 38. A Mussulman (Muslim). 39. A Brahmin. 40. Fuqeer, or Begging Friar (Fakir). 41. Fuqeer, or Enthusiast. 42. Fuqeer, or Beggar. 43. A Burmese Man. 44. A Burmese Woman.

Bound in contemporary full leather, neatly rebacked, spine with five raised bands gilt title and decoration, red leather title label, scuffing to leather boards, AEG, marble endpapers, book block solid. All text pages and plates clean and bright with no foxing, handcolour very delicately applied.

The book is variously and erroneously attributed to the Scottish engineer of the same name, Captain Robert Smith (1787-1873) of the Bengal Engineers who served in India from 1805 to 1830*, and also Lt.-Col. Charles Hamilton Smith (1776-1859), the English soldier, antiquary and naturalist who never served in India**. [*Spiral Rare Books, **Metropolitan Museum of Art.]

Scarce. Copies held by the British Library, V&A, Wellcome Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and universities of Glasgow, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge.