Henry Hardy Cole, The Architecture of Ancient Delhi, Especially the Buildings around...

Printed book measuring 278 mm x 376 mm, in modern green cloth binding, with 29 prints recording the architectural monuments in the vicinity of the Qutb at Delhi (and a few associated sites). The prints were produced in Autotype by the Permanent Printing Company (Woodbury and Autotype Process), 9A Hereford Square, London, and the volume itself published 'Under the sanction of the Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education'. The genesis of the work is explained in Cole's introduction, which states that it came about partly from the awakened interest of the Indian Government in documenting the architectural heritage of the subcontinent, allied to the desire of the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum) to build up a comprehensive collection of reproductions in plaster of architectural styles from around the world: 'Thus, while the Indian Government investigates the archaeology of its country, Great Britain endeavours to get architectural casts representing the styles of the Buddhists, Hindus, Jains and Muhammadans.' In 1868 Cole had been responsible for the making of a full-size cast of the great East Gateway at Sanchi (which was subsequently displayed at the London International Exhibition of 1871) and in 1870 he was deputed to make further casts at the Kutb and at Fatehpur Sikri. Cole arrived in Bombay with his assistant Corporal Jackson of the Royal Engineers in December 1870 and from there travelled to Fatehpur Sikri where he superintended the start of the work. At Agra he taught the moulding process to five 'soap-stone carvers and workers of mosaics' and leaving the Fatehpur work in Jackson's charge, proceeded to Delhi, 'where we commenced making a series of facsimiles of the best specimens characteristic of the Hindu and Pathan sculptures, which abound among the ruins of that place.' On the completion of the work Cole had made about six tons of casts and an equal amount had been produced by Jackson at Fatehpur Sikri. The whole collection was sent overland to England where it arrived in May 1871: 'They then underwent such repairs as had been rendered needful by the casualties of a long voyage, and from them have been reproduced two sets of casts, one for London and one for Edinburgh.' As well as superintending the making of the casts in Delhi, Cole 'devoted a large portion of time to making a careful investigation of the buildings' and also had the foresight to arrange for the creation of a photographic record of the most important monuments in the area. The resulting photographs are here reproduced by the Autotype process which, while retaining all the tonal delicacy of an original print, is not prone to fading.The volume contains some of the best and clearest photographs of architecture at the Qutb Minar taken in the 19th century, and Cole in his introduction is fulsome in his praise of the photographer, forced to work in a possibly uncongenial style: 'By previous arrangement Mr. Shepherd, of the firm of Shepherd and Bourne [sic}, came to the Kutb to take a set of photographs of the most interesting buildings, and these are here published by order of the Lords of the Committee of Council of Education, to form a collateral series of illustrations to the casts exhibited at the South Kensington Museum. Mr Shepherd's renown as a skilful photographer is almost as widely spread in England as in India. The large sized views of the beautiful Himalayan Hills and of a great number of well-known buildings at Agra, Delhi, Amritsar, Benares, and other cities [the majority in fact taken by Samuel Bourne rather than Shepherd], have earned for the firm a well-deserved and high reputation. I feel I ought to express my sense of Mr Shepherd's invariable attention and courtesy whilst carrying out my suggestions in regard to the photographs. In producing illustrations of architectural subjects, illustrations which in truth are merely intended to be faithful diagrammatic records, the clear reproduction of structural and ornamental details ranks higher in importance than the production of a picturesque scene, or view of the country. Mr Shepherd's instincts and sympathies were inclined, and naturally so, more strongly to the latter than to the former, but to meet the special requirements of the illustrations prepared for this volume he changed his usual style and, in concurrence with my suggestions, concentrated his energies in securing most accurate photographs of the architectural features, thereby using his art as a means of scientific reproduction.'.

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