This picture is taken from “Lettres sur l’Inde”
The book contains a map with the author’s routes of his two voyages (1841-1843 and 1845-1846) in red and blue plus 32 magnificent duo-tone lithographs after Prince Alexis Soltykoff. These exquisite, impressing lithographs appear here in print for the very first time, depicting people and scenes in such places as New Delhi, Madras, Ceylon, Calcutta, Lahore, the Himalayas and other places. Also there are some really impressive night scenes, where the environment is beautifully lit by torches, like in the picture above.
Around 1849 Auguste Bry published these extremely beautiful plates in a priceless folio edition under the title “Voyages dans l’Inde” with 36 plates, after which a smaller edition in a large octavo format was published in 1850 by Curmer & Lecou under the same title, with 36 plates too. For the Curmer edition most likely a small part of the stones for some plates of this first edition by Amyot were re-used. Partly some of the plates were redrawn as well, while some others were entirely new. Hence this Amyot edition has some plates that never appeared in print again.
Prince Alexis Soltykoff was born in St. Petersburg in 1806 as the youngest son of a well known and esteemed family. He joined the Russian Foreign Service and was stationed in the Levant first, then moved on to Great Britain, Italy and Persia respectively. He retired in 1840 and settled in Paris where he died in 1859. From here he made the two voyages to India.
On the half title page of our copy is written in pencil:
‘Revues & corrigées par Mr. Léon de Wailly à Paris.’
In the volume itself some corrections have been made, also in pencil, which have been implemented in the later editions from 1850 onwards, then under the title of ‘Voyages dans l’Inde’.
So this once was the copy of Léon de Wailly, a friend of Soltykoff.
Above left the copy that once belonged to Léon de Wailly. On the right another copy in a modern binding.
Below plate nr. 2 of the copy with the handwritten note, which should have been titled “Ballet dramatique, représenté par des Malabars dans un bois en Ceylan près de Colombo.” in tinted proof state without letters. Far below the other copy of this book which shows the text under this plate.
