The British Colonies; their history, extent, condition, and resources

By Montgomery Martin, Esq., late Treasurer to the Queen at Hong-Kong; and member of Her Majesty’s Legislative Council in China. London and New York : The London Printing and Publishing Company [J. & F. Tallis], circa 1851. Six volumes bound in twelve (which are labelled as ‘Divisions’), quarto, publisher’s original gilt-lettered and decorated red cloth (each volume skilfully rebacked some loss to the cloth on the spines), the title pages to the six volumes (i. British North America; II. Australia; III. New Zealand, Tasmania etc.; IV. Africa and the West Indies; V. British India; VI. Ceylon, East India, and Mediterranean Settlements) bound at the rear of Division XII, so that the owner can bind the set into six volumes to their style, publishers printed advertisement on the pastedown of Division I announcing that the set would be ‘completed in eight Divisions’ (in fact there were twelve), publisher’s advertisements; paginated as follows:

Division I : [ii – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved frontispiece portrait of Queen Elizabeth; engraved title page; engraved portraits of Sir Walter Raleigh and Francis Bacon; tissue guards, pp. xxiv; 168; with four fine steel engraved double page maps of The World; British America; East Canada and New Brunswick; and West Canada, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division II : [iv – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portraits of Queen Anne, Prince Rupert, William Pitt, Sir Francis Drake; tissue guards, pp.169 –  360; with two fine steel engraved double page maps of North America; Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division III (lettered on spine ‘Australasia’) : [viii – publisher’s advertisements]; [viii – advertisements for emigrants packet ships to Australia, Australian banks, and general retailers]; engraved portraits of Captain Cook, Sir Joseph Banks, William Pitt; tissue guards, pp. 361 – 568; with three fine steel engraved double page maps of Eastern Hemisphere; Australia; and New South Wales, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division IV (lettered on spine ‘Australia’) : [viii – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portraits of Horatio, Viscount Nelson; Richard, First Earl Howe; John Locke; tissue guards, pp. 569 – 744; with three fine steel engraved double page maps of Western Australia, Swan River; Part of South Australia; Victoria,or Port Phillip, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division V (lettered on spine ‘N. Zealand &c.’) : [xiv – publisher’s advertisements, and notice on the Abolition of a Duty on Paper]; engraved portraits of Admiral Lord Hawke; Samuel, First Viscount Hood; Augustus, Viscount Keppel; tissue guards, pp. 1 – 192; with three fine steel engraved double page maps of Van Diemen’s Land, or Tasmania; New Zealand; Polynesia, or Islands in the Pacific Ocean, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division VI (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in Pacific’) : [xvi – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portraits of King Charles the Second; Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland; tissue guards, pp. 193 – 384; with four fine steel engraved double page maps of Western Hemisphere; South America; Falkland Islands and Patagonia; and The World on Mercator’s Projection shewing the voyages of Captain Cook round the world, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division VII (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in Africa’) : [xii – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portrait of Sir Ralph Abercromby; tissue guard, pp. 1 – 208; with five fine steel engraved double page maps of Africa; Cape Colony; Natal and Kaffraria; Western Africa; Islands in the Atlantic, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division VIII (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in the W. Indies’) : [xii – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portrait of George Lord Rodney; tissue guard, pp. 1 – 188; with five fine steel engraved double page maps of West India Islands; Jamaica; Central America; British Guayana; Isthmus of Panama, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division IX (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in Asia’) : [xii – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portraits of Robert, First Lord Clive; Sir William Jones; Charles, Marquis Cornwallis; tissue guards, half-title, title page, pp. 1 – 180; with three fine steel engraved double page maps of Asia; British India; Cabool, The Punjab and Beloochistan, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division X (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in Asia’) : [x – publisher’s advertisements]; engraved portraits of a statue of The Duke of Wellington; a statue of The Marquis of Wellesley; George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland; tissue guards, pp. 1 – 180; with three fine steel engraved double page maps of Northern India; Southern India; Overland Route to India; each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division XI (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in Asia’) : [xii – publisher’s advertisements]; engravings of Lord George Russell; a group of portraits of nobility; The Siege of Mooltan, 1849; The surrender of two sons of Tippoo, Sultan; tissue guards, pp. 373 – 564; with two fine steel engraved double page maps of Tibet, Mongolia and Mandchouria; Independent Tartary, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

Division XII (lettered on spine ‘British Possessions in the Mediterranean’) : [xii – publisher’s advertisements]; engravings of Gibralter; Valletta; Corfu; tissue guards, pp. 1 – 172; six title sheets bound at rear; six leaves of indices for the six volumes; with three fine steel engraved double page maps of Ceylon; Malay Archipelago or East Indian Islands; British Possessions in the Mediterranean, each with outline hand colouring, light scattered foxing.

A fine, complete set of Martin’s encyclopaedic survey of The British Empire at its height in the Victorian era, with portraits, engraved scenes, and 40 highly detailed, hand coloured steel engraved maps by Rapkin.

Provenance :

Several volumes are inscribed with the previous owner’s name ‘Richard R. Montgomery’, dated 1953, who we can assume is a relation of Robert Montgomery Martin.