Lot 152

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Description:

Rare Lantern Slide Collection Ca. 1869-1911, 175 Glass Slides, Magic Lantern, Incl. Tibetan Monasteries, Sikh Temples, the Taj Mahal, with Large Folding Map of India

(INDIA, TIBET, PAKISTAN & THE HIMALAYAS). Lantern slide collection: A Journey of One Thousand Miles across the Himalayas and Tibet to Eastern Turkestan. WITH: Original magic lantern. England, circa 1869-1911. WITH: BARTHOLOMEW, J.F. Thacker’s Reduced Survey Map of India. Calcutta, Bombay, London: Thacker, Spink; Thacker; W. Thacker, 1891. Set of 175 original glass lantern slides (each measures 3-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches), in three original slotted cases (two cases with metal and leather bindings); original wooden slide bar; original magic lantern, in original metal case with working clasp and leather handle (measures 10 by 17-1/2 by 6 inches); Map, original gilt-stamped blue cloth (measures 5-1/4 by 10-1/2 inches), linen-backed color folding map (measures 39 by 32 inches). Together housed in contemporary wooden trunk with metal and leather clasps (measures 15 by 28 by 14 inches). THIS ITEM REQUIRES THIRD PARTY SHIPPING.

Exceedingly rare collection of 175 original lantern glass slides with original magic lantern, circa 1869-1911, in three original cases, together with original candle-operated magic lantern complete with wooden slide holder and original metal case, an exceptional series of original slides, some in sepia, from photographs taken by a English missionaries living Northern India and traveling extensively through the region, including Pakistan, the Himalayas and Tibet—featuring views of ancient mosques, Buddhist monasteries, Sikh temples, and remote vistas rarely glimpsed by Europeans, with Thacker’s Reduced Survey Map (1911) containing a large folding linen-backed map of India. Together housed in a large contemporary wooden crate.

This rare photographic archive of 175 original glass lantern slides was assembled from photographs taken by English missionaries sent to British India during colonial rule, shortly after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, which is considered by many to be India’s First War of Independence. Also included with this exceptional series of slides is an original magic lantern, popular in the Victorian era and a forerunner of early cinema. In the slide collection are portraits of the Henderson missionary family, including their young son Edward, and images from photographs taken as early as 1869, featuring Moravian missions and the Koksar village of Lahaul, as well views of the gigantic Rohtas Fort in Punjab, Darjeeling, which represents the Pathan architectural style of Pakistan and was visited by them in 1874. Also included is a striking portrait of Pandit Radha Kishan, the celebrated Indian alchemist and astrologer, who was visited by the missionaries in 1885. This impressive visual chronicle continues through the 1880s and up into 1911, as the missionaries journeyed through remote areas rarely if ever previously visited by Europeans, capturing images of regions in Tibet only accessible by dangerous footpaths, as well as views of the legendary Taj Majal, a massive stone Buddha carved into rock, mosques in Lahore and Kashmir, Buddhist and Hindu monasteries, Sikh temples and much more. Included are views of: Leh, then capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh (also known as Little Tibet); Kashmir’s ancient Shankaracharya Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and also held sacred by Buddhists as “Pas-Pahar”; India’s Kulu Valley; the majestic Martand Sun Temple in Kashmir built in the 7th-8th century AD and dedicated to the Hindu sun-god Surya; India’s Rohtang Pass; Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir; views of India’s Lahaul District; a beautiful Tibetan lamasery; the Golden Temple of Amritsar—Harmandir Sahib—considered holy by Sikhs; India’s famed Shey Monastery of Ladakh; the Lamayuru Buddhist monastery in Ladakh; Thikse Monastery; the Sikh Chorten Temple; a glacier at a high mountain pass in the Himalayas; Pakistan’s Sakesar Valley; fossils in limestone; Yarkland in western China; the people of Kyrgyz; views of Calcutta, Kashmir and Darjeeling; Murree in the Galyat area of Pakistan; the majestic Karakoram mountains intersecting the borders of Afghanistan, China, India China and Tajikistan; images from contemporary texts of Dost Mohammad Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, and Maharaja Ranjit Singh, first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire; lush mountainside tea plantations, remote mountain waterfalls and much more. With the 1911 edition of Thacker’s Reduced Survey Map of India, edited by J.G. Bartholomew, first issued in 1891: containing index and large linen-backed folding color map.

Map with early owner inscription dated year of publication: “13.7.91.”

Slides in excellent condition with only occasional fading; original magic lantern beautifully preserved; the map, in original gilt-stamped cloth, appears to have been well-utilized by the missionaries in their travels.

SOME SLIDES BROKEN, READER GEARS NEED CONDITIONING.

*THIS ITEM REQUIRES THIRD PARTY SHIPPING.  

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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April 14, 2021 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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