304 - [TRAVEL - INDIA]. ROUSSELET, Louis. The India of the Rajahs. A Journey Through Central India and the Presidencies of Bombay and Bengal.

[TRAVEL - INDIA]. ROUSSELET, Louis. The India of the Rajahs. A Journey Through Central India and the Presidencies of Bombay and Bengal. Paris, Hachette et Cie, 1875. Folio, brown half-shagreen with corners edged in gold fillet, spine with gold-threaded raised bands and cold-stamped borders, author and title in gold lettering, date at the bottom, endpapers and inner covers of marbled paper, all edges gilt (contemporary binding, signed Fechoz). 807 pages, 317 woodcuts in the text and as inserts, including 1 frontispiece, 6 engraved maps. Slight rubbing, faded spine, foxing, more pronounced in the margins and on the first few leaves. First edition of the most famous album on 19th-century India, the result of Louis Rousselet’s journey from 1863 to 1868. It is illustrated with 317 sketches and photographs by the author, woodcut by the most famous artists of the time (Émile Bayard, A. de Neuville, É. Thérond, H. Catenacci, A. Marie, etc.). It also contains 6 engraved maps. Louis Rousselet (1845–1929), a French traveler and photographer, offers a captivating visual and sociological account of the India of the princes, the British Raj, temple architecture, royal processions on the backs of elephants, wildlife, and scenes of daily life. A beautiful and sturdy copy in a contemporary binding.