The Three Presidencies of India

London: Ingram, Cooke, and Co, 1853. First edition. Leather. Very Good Indeed. 8.5" by 5.5". Various. A scarce travel work on India and the country's presidencies by John Capper, the first edition of this illustrated work. The first edition of this scarce work.Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title, one folding map, six plates, and in-text engravings.Collated, all illustrations are present, bound without the publisher's adverts.An interesting Victorian work looking at the three presidencies of India; Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta.The author, John Capper, was sent to Sri Lanka in 1837, working for the coffee wholesale business Acland & Boyd. The company sent Capper to India to manage the cinnamon and coconut oil interests. He worked there for a decade, before returning to England, writing journalistic pieces of Ceylon, as it was then known, for various publications, including Dickens' 'Household Words'.After the publication of this work in 1858 Capper returned to Sri Lanka.Gift inscription to the recto of the front free endpaper, 'James St. Vincent Saumarez, from his sincere friend, Frederick Willock Garnett, On his leaving Eton, Election 1856'. Saumarez was a diplomat and peer. In a full morocco binding. Externally, smart. Light rubbing to the spine and extremities. Spine is a little faded. Only a few small marks to the boards. Gift inscription to the recto of the front free endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and generally clean with the occasional spot, heavier to the first and last few pages. Very Good Indeed