Description
The present work is a rare travel guide and overview of India written by George Aberigh-Mackay, one of India’s most skilled and entertaining popular writers. Completed in the summer of 1875, it was created in honor of the upcoming visit of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King-Emperor Edward VII), who from October 1875 to May 1876 visited 21 cities and towns all across the Subcontinent. The tour was to be the first official visit of any British monarch or heir to the throne to India, and the work was geared towards satisfying the expected wave in tourism inspired by the Prince’s experiences.
The purpose of the book is best explained by Aberigh-Mackay in his ‘Preface’ (p. iii, preliminaries):
“The following pages will, it is hoped, furnish a bird’s-eye view of the natural, historical, and political characteristics of our Indian Empire. The subject is so great that the compiler, with a very limited space at his command, has only been able to indicate its salient features; but he has everywhere endeavoured to direct the reader to sources that afford a more exhaustive treatment, and to which he himself is indebted for the material of his sketch. The approaching visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales with probably bring an influx of visitors to the East, and will certainly direct the attention of the English people generally to this country; it is thought, therefore, that the present is an opportune moment for the publication of brief and popular account if its physical aspect, it products, people, and government, together with those more particular instructions and statistics, for the use of travellers, that are commonly found in the best guide-books. – Delhi, 24th July 1875”.
Unlike most survey guidebooks, which can be rather dry, the present work is very skillfully written, for Aberigh-Mackay cleverly weaves vital statistics and facts into an engaging narrative the is quite a pleasure to read. While the author states that he drew upon many authoritative sources, his deep personal knowledge of the country, as a well-travelled Indian-born intellectual, comes through. The work draws the reader in and sparks a genuine curiousity about India, clearly achieving its stated purpose.
The text is divided into eight chapters: I. Natural Features (geography, climate, flora and fauna, etc.); II. Historical Sketch; III. British Administration (The Raj and its various divisions and ministries, etc.); IV. Native States; V. Communications (railways, roads, telegraphs, etc.); VI. Sports (hunting of big and small game, including Cheetahs and ‘Pig-Sticking’); VII. Places of Interest; VIII. Sanitaria (India’s famous hill towns, ex. Shimla, etc.).
An attractive map of the Subcontinent especially lithographed for the book, augmented by lovely original pastel outline colours, labels all major sites and railway lines.
The work concludes with a lengthy series of advertisements which provide a fascinating insight into the types of businesses and commercial tastes favoured by the Anglo-Indian community during the early Raj era. Of note, p. xvi features a full-page illustration of the office of the Times of India, where both the present work and one of the Subcontinent’s main newspapers were issued.
George Aberigh-Mackay: One of India’s Most Talented Young Popular Writers
George Robert Aberigh-Mackay (1848 – 1881) was an Anglo-Indian educator and author of popular works, who was considered to be one of most talented young writers in India. Born in India, the son of church minister, he was sent to England as a teenager, where he attended Magdalen College School, before going on to Oxford and Cambridge.
He returned to India in 1870 and joined the Indian Education Department, becoming a professor of literature at Delhi College in 1873; the tutor to the Raja of Rutlam in 1876; and the principal of the Pajkumar College in Indore in 1877. Aberigh-Mackay was an avid traveller, hunter and athlete and was constantly engaged in all kinds of exiting activities all over India and beyond. He was an extremely gifted writer, blessed with a cutting whit and sense of humour.
In addition to the present work, his major titles include, Notes on Western Turkistan (1875), a timely work on a land that was a focus of the Great Game; The Native Chiefs and their States in 1877: A Manual of Reference (1878), a very important record the maharajas and rajas of India, some of whom Aberigh-Mackay knew personally; A Manual of Indian Sport: Big Game (1878), a great guide to Big Game; and his most famous work, Twenty-one days in India, or, The Tour of Sir Ali Baba (1878-9), a brilliant and biting satire on Anglo-Indian society that was enormously popular, and promised to make him one of the biggest names in the country’s literary scene.
Tragically, Aberigh-Mackay’s promising life and career was cut short, for at the age of only 32, he died of tetanus after contracting an injury while playing sports. While his full potential was never realised, Aberigh-Mackay left an estimable legacy, as many of his works were republished, and cited, for many years.
A Note on Rarity
The work is rare. While we can trace examples in around dozen institutions, we cannot trace any sales records. It is worth nothing that the present example is in remarkably fine condition, much better than can be expected for an Indian book of its type and era.
References: British Library: 10058.bb.1. and T 37208; Royal Collection Trust (London): RCIN 1054526; Huntington Library: 635376; Yale University Library: Eef 875L; OCLC: 562057328, 465847923, 68689152, 496563912.
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