"CURRY & RICE," on Forty Plates; or, The Ingredients of Social Life at "Our Station" in India

Author: Atkinson, George Francklin
Title: "CURRY & RICE," on Forty Plates; or, The Ingredients of Social Life at "Our Station" in India
Publication: London: W. Thacker & Co., 1911
Edition: Fourth Edition

Description: Hardcover. "Curry and Rice was written and published in the months following the Revolt, a time when narratives of 1857 constituted the bulk of English-language literature from India. Atkinson, a captain in the Bengal Engineers, a unit of the Company’s army in Bengal, had first-hand experience of 1857. However, Curry and Rice elides any mention of the Revolt. Atkinson declares in his preface that he wishes to provide a reprieve 'after all the narratives of horror that have of late fallen upon the English ear.' Thus, the book constitutes of brief vignettes of life in a fictional cantonment town called Kabob. It depicts characters named after Indian foods - Garlic, Turmeric, Huldey, Tamarind, Coriander, and even a Capsicum(!) - and 'Indian' scenes, like a tiger hunt, a 'burra khanah' ('big dinner'), a cantonment ball, a dinner with the Nuwab of Kabob, and so on" (Meghna Sapui, Victorian Review). Quarto: unpaginated with a decorated extra title page and 39 full-page plates, all color halftones with tissue guards, after watercolors by George Francklin Atkinson. In the publisher's butterscotch vertical fine-ribbed cloth binding, with overall ribbon-embossed moiré pattern, blind-stamped ruled and floral ornamental borders; gilt-stamped floral ornamental surround and compartments, vignette of bungalow, and titling panel; and gilt and white-stamped titling. All edges gilt, with buff endpaper tan-printed in a "cracked ice" pattern. Scattered light foxing, with a period ink bookseller's stamp (Thacker & Co., Bombay) to the verso of the front flyleaf. Just a hint of wear to the corners and tips. Provenance: from the Publishers' Bookbindings collection of Ellen K. Morris and Edward S. Levin.

Seller ID: 78906

Subject: India

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