A rare Madras printed book on Rulers and Nobles of India, 1915

Vadivelu, A: The Ruling Chiefs Nobles & Zamindars of India. G. C. Loganadham Bros [Madras] 1915 1st edition 8vo.
Vol I. [possibly all published], coloured frontispiece of King & Queen, portraits from photographs [list below], xxiii, [ii Addenda], 770pp. [xii advertisements + one to rear pastedown]. Original blue cloth gilt, front board and spine loose as the paper hinge has broken cleanly, the text block is very sound with no previous ownership marking, a very few pages are browned because they have been printed on inferior quality paper one such illustrated].

There is no list of illustrations but nothing appears to have been removed and the plates are: late Nizam, Nizam, Gaekwar, Mysore, Kashmir, Udaipur, Nepal, 5 plates of the King Emperor hunting in Nepal, Gen. Shum Sherer Jung, Gen Baber Shum Shere Jung, Gen kaiser Shum Shere, Gen Singha Shum Shere, Gen Krishna Shum Shere, Singha Durbar, Karauli, Dhar, Dewas Senior, Dewas Junior, Dungarpur, Banswara, Tipperah, Jind, Jind, Chamba, Gondal, Rani of Gondal, Bijawar, Chhatarpur, Ratlam, Sailana, Rajpipla, Barwani, Rajgarh, Sitamau, Tehri Garhwal, Ichalkarani, Sheopur-Baroda, Balrampur, Darbhanga, Kasimbazar, 4 plates of Kasimbazar Palace, Nawab Fateh Ali Khan Qizilbash, Mr. Islam Ullahkhan, Nawab Tasadduq Husain, Col. SirAfsur ul Mulk, Chorahat, Arni, Beohar Raghubber Simha, Rao Tatya Sahib, Thakur Harpal Singh, Sardar Ranoji Rao Scindia, Sardar Ganpat Rao Scindia, Rai Bahadur Seth Jiwandas, Gokuldass, Babu Govindass, Zamindar of Marungapuri, Zamindar of Vadagarai, H.E. Lord Carmichael with pages, Zamindar of Pandariya, 3 plates of multiple poertraits. An unusual work which appears to be rare. It is very unlikely that any other volumes were produced. The selection of illustrations seems random but may be based on personal factors such as those who provided illustrations, people who pre-ordered a copy of the work, etc.

The illustrations are often of good quality and those of Nepal are outstanding. This is the only copy of this book we have come across and it has been in our private collection for over 30 years.  A very heavy book – 1860 gms.    jun23/2