Map of India, constructed with great care and research from all the Latest Authorities and intended more particularly to facilitate a reference to the Civil and Military Stations

This is a relatively early edition of a map of India which was first published in 1837, reviewed in the Naval and Military Gazette (27 January 1838) as ‘decidedly the best extant’.

Our edition was advertised priced at a guinea (Morning Herald, 16 March 1842). A printed note to the bottom right indicates ‘This Map will serve to illustrate the despatches of the Duke of Wellington’, which had recently been published; Wellington’s early military successes were gained during his service in India, 1797-1805.

Although the map could have certainly have been used for this purpose, it was of great value to British military and civilian personnel, and was reprinted in numerous editions. A mileage table, top right, has been coloured so that it can be read to show distances from either Delhi or Calcutta, and there is a wealth of practical information printed in the borders.

This map was compiled with the help of Robert Melville Grindlay, a retired army officer with extensive banking and travel interests in the Subcontinent.

Our example belonged to Lieutenant (later Captain) William Hodges Tylden Pattensen (1822-1894), who spent 8 years in India with the 25th Regiment of Foot, returning to England in 1852. He then married Eliza, daughter of the Rev. James Boys, who was Rector of Biddenden, Kent, for 40 years until his death in 1882; the couple settled nearby. Pattenson’s father was a veteran of the Light Division in the Peninsular War, and other family members also served in the military.

Condition & Materials

Engraved folding map, sheet size 100 x 67 cm, original hand colour, dissected into 24 panels, toning to bottom right panel (presumably mis-folded at some point in the past), lacks slip-case. Ownership inscription of Lt. Pattenson, H.M. 25th Regiment, on printed advertisement label to verso.

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Wyld's Map of India