Map of India Constructed with Great Care…

Rare, early edition of this large engraved c.19th map of India by James Wyld, with original outline hand colouring, dissected into twenty four sections and laid on linen as issued, folding into cloth covered slipcase with publisher’s printed label and advertisements on two outer panels.

This edition dates 1837, is identified by the lack of the statement: “The map will serve to illustrate the Despatches of the Duke of Wellington, which was added to a number of later editions.

A meticulously compiled and finely engraved map of the Indian subcontinent, reflecting the most up-to-date geographical and administrative information available to British authorities in the early nineteenth century. James Wyld, one of London’s foremost cartographers and successor to William Faden, here worked under the supervision of Captain Robert Melville Grindlay, founder of Grindlay’s Bank and an artist long associated with the East India Company. The map was expressly designed to facilitate reference to both civil and military stations throughout British India, serving as an essential tool for administrators, officers, and commercial agents. Dedicated to Sir James Rivett Carnac, Baronet, then Chairman of the East India Company’s Court of Directors the map embodies the imperial cartographic enterprise at its zenith, combining scientific precision with administrative purpose. Its geographical accuracy, derived from official surveys and “the latest authorities,” illustrates the growing reach of British power and knowledge across the subcontinent in the years preceding the consolidation of the Raj.

An important and handsome example of Wyld’s cartography, notable for its clarity of design, authoritative sources, and historical association with the East India Company’s governance of India.