The Madras almanac for the year of our lord 1829, calculated for the meridian of Port St. George. To which are added: lists of the civil, judicial and medical establishments, and of the Europeans not in the King's or Company's service. With other matters of useful information.Madras, Asylum Press, [1828?]. 8vo. With 1 engraved hand-coloured folding plate showing different kinds of ships’ flags. Lacking 2 leaves.Contemporary red sheepskin, sprinkled edges. Rebacked in calf, red sheepskin spine label, blue paper pasted over the sides.

[1 blank], [2], [1 blank], VI, 1-146, [2], 147-361, [1] blank, XXX, VIII pp. (lacking pp. 19-22).A rare issue of the Madras almanac, a landmark in the history of British-Indian colonial printing before the Mutiny in 1857. Styled on European almanacs, it is a great source of information on India and especially Madras in the years 1827-1829. The tradition of preparing and printing almanacs in India was quite new. The Madras almanac, first printed in 1799 and initially called the Madras register (and later, until its demise in 1935, the Asylum Press almanac), gives not only useful community information, such as birth and death rates for 1827-1828 and domestic events, but also offers glimpses into the British colonial and native Indian politics in India and the officers involved at that time. It therefore provided much important information for the British Indian colonists. Of special practical importance are the information and conversion tables for money, weights and measures and also the tables of roads from Madras to principal towns and military stations in the region. The Madras Almanac a practical guide for the British-Indian colonist in 1829, now provides us with a window into Madras society in the period 1827 to 1829.The original sheepskin rubbed and the later paper covering it chipped, corners bumped. Otherwise in good condition.l Orchiston, Sule & Vahia, The Development of Astronomy and Astrophysics in India and the Asia-Pacific Region (2018), p. 271; this issue not in Worldcat.