45
Grand Master, Adventures..Qui Hi, Rowlandson 1816
The Grand Master, or, Adventures of Qui Hi? in Hindostan. Hudibrastic Poem in Eight Cantos by Quiz. Illustrated with engravings by Rowlandson. London. Printed by Thomas Tegg, No. M, Cheapside. 1816. A first edition in a fine binding by Riviere, 3/4 bound in red crimson, with five raised bands, a gilt title and six compartments with gilt devices and gilt-ruled borders, marbled endpapers, a wonderful colored fold-out frontis by Thomas Rowlandson, the colored title page followed by a six-page Preface, then an Invocation to Butler, 252 pages of text, a thirteen-line errata slip at the end, and the top edge is gilt.
There are twenty-eight hand-colored aquatints altogether, including the colored frontis, the title page, and a sepia-colored plate. All the errata are uncorrected, as called for, and it lacks the C8 cancel, as usual. Some pages are mispaginated. Page 31 is numbered as page 33, and pages 73 and 74 are repeated - they read 72, 73, 74, then 72, 74, and 75, but the text on those pages is not repeated - and those details are points of issue which make this a first edition.
The color plates were done by Thomas Rowlandson and the text was written by William Combe, but the book is largely remembered for the color plates by Rowlandson.
Rowlandson (1756-1827) was an English artist and caricaturist known for his political satire and social observations. He produced some ten thousand engravings, etchings, ink and watercolor illustrations, and his caricatures are often robust or bawdy. He also produced highly explicit erotica for a private clientele; these were never published publicly at the time and now are only found in a small number of collections.
Quiz was likely the pseudonym for William Combe (1742 - 1823), also spelled Coombe, a British miscellaneous writer. His early life was that of an adventurer, his later life was passed chiefly within the "rules" of the King's Bench Prison, which means he spent a lot of time in prison for debt. He is chiefly remembered as the author of The Three Tours of Doctor Syntax, a comic poem also illustrated by Rowlandson.
The Grand Master was a stinging satire of British imperial rule in India, and the barbs in Rowlandson’s hand-colored plates were directed at Lord Moira, who was the Marquess of Hastings and served as Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823. The plates also poked fun at the East India Company for its Hindu prejudices and it satirized the church for its patent disregard of Hindu culture and practices.
“Qui hi”, or “Kooee hye", is the Bengali phrase meaning “Who’s there”. No bells were used in the houses of the gentry in India, so servants sat at the doors of the dining or drawing room, and when they were called or summoned by the phrase Qui hi, the servants magically appeared.
The book is 8vo. and measures 9 7/8 x 6 3/8 in. wide, with occasional light browning or spots, and this first edition with the highly colorful Rowlandson plates is a great addition to anyone who collects English art from the Georgian era.
The Grand Master, or, Adventures of Qui Hi? in Hindostan. Hudibrastic Poem in Eight Cantos by Quiz. Illustrated with engravings by Rowlandson. London. Printed by Thomas Tegg, No. M, Cheapside. 1816. A first edition in a fine binding by Riviere, 3/4 bound in red crimson, with five raised bands, a gilt title and six compartments with gilt devices and gilt-ruled borders, marbled endpapers, a wonderful colored fold-out frontis by Thomas Rowlandson, the colored title page followed by a six-page Preface, then an Invocation to Butler, 252 pages of text, a thirteen-line errata slip at the end, and the top edge is gilt.
There are twenty-eight hand-colored aquatints altogether, including the colored frontis, the title page, and a sepia-colored plate. All the errata are uncorrected, as called for, and it lacks the C8 cancel, as usual. Some pages are mispaginated. Page 31 is numbered as page 33, and pages 73 and 74 are repeated - they read 72, 73, 74, then 72, 74, and 75, but the text on those pages is not repeated - and those details are points of issue which make this a first edition.
The color plates were done by Thomas Rowlandson and the text was written by William Combe, but the book is largely remembered for the color plates by Rowlandson.
Rowlandson (1756-1827) was an English artist and caricaturist known for his political satire and social observations. He produced some ten thousand engravings, etchings, ink and watercolor illustrations, and his caricatures are often robust or bawdy. He also produced highly explicit erotica for a private clientele; these were never published publicly at the time and now are only found in a small number of collections.
Quiz was likely the pseudonym for William Combe (1742 - 1823), also spelled Coombe, a British miscellaneous writer. His early life was that of an adventurer, his later life was passed chiefly within the "rules" of the King's Bench Prison, which means he spent a lot of time in prison for debt. He is chiefly remembered as the author of The Three Tours of Doctor Syntax, a comic poem also illustrated by Rowlandson.
The Grand Master was a stinging satire of British imperial rule in India, and the barbs in Rowlandson’s hand-colored plates were directed at Lord Moira, who was the Marquess of Hastings and served as Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823. The plates also poked fun at the East India Company for its Hindu prejudices and it satirized the church for its patent disregard of Hindu culture and practices.
“Qui hi”, or “Kooee hye", is the Bengali phrase meaning “Who’s there”. No bells were used in the houses of the gentry in India, so servants sat at the doors of the dining or drawing room, and when they were called or summoned by the phrase Qui hi, the servants magically appeared.
The book is 8vo. and measures 9 7/8 x 6 3/8 in. wide, with occasional light browning or spots, and this first edition with the highly colorful Rowlandson plates is a great addition to anyone who collects English art from the Georgian era.
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Featuring multiple books from well-known authors. These books and documents represent four generations of collecting and run the gamut from signed letters by Lafayette, to first editions by Charles Dickens, George Cruikshank, Longfellow, and wonderful paper ephemera. These are just a few of the exceptional books we will be offering. Bidding will take place both in person and online.
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