Beschreibung:

AINSLIE, Sir Whitelaw (1767-1837)]. Materia Medica of Hindoostan, and artisan's and agriculturalist's nomenclature... published by special permission of the Government of Madras . Madras: printed at the Government Press, 1813. Small 4° (236 x 180mm). Title (verso blank), secondary title (verso blank), dedication to 'the Reverend Doctor J.P. Rottler' (verso blank), pp.[i-]ii preface, 2pp. contents, pp.[1-]214 text 'Catalogue I'; p.[215] section title 'Catalogue II' (verso i.e. p.[216] blank); pp.217-271 text 'Catalogue II' (p.272 blank); pp.273-301 text 'Appendix' 9p.302 blank); 1p. 'Postcript' (verso blank); pp.i-xxv 'English index' (p.xxvi blank); pp.xxvii-xxxix 'Tamool index (p.xl blank); pp.xli-xlviii 'Latin index'. Contemporary blue straight-grained morocco gilt, covers with wide decorative border built up from various fillets and roll tools in gilt and blind, surrounding a central panel with elaborate corner-pieces of scrolling foliage and pointillé work in gilt, spine in five compartments with two double raised bands and two single raised bands, decorative gilt roll between each pair of bands, the second and fourth compartments lettered in gilt, the other compartments with repeat decoration in blind and gilt with pointillé work, wide turn-ins elaborately tooled in gilt, red watered-silk liners and free endpapers, g.e. (blue colour of leather on covers unevenly faded). Provenance : Benjamin Bloomfield, Baron Bloomfield (1768-1846, armorial bookplate). A VERY FINE COPY OF THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF THIS FASCINATING WORK: the first glossary of Indian mineral and agricultural productions to be published by a European, as well as a pioneering study of Indian medical knowledge. Only the Burrell copy is listed as having sold at auction in the past twenty-five years. Another edition in two volumes was printed in London in 1826. This work was published after Ainslie had served for twenty-five years in India - his final posting before he resigned in 1815 was as superintending surgeon of the southern division of the army, based in Madras. Ainslie lays out the scope of the work in the secondary title: 'A catalogue, and an account, of such Medicines of the British Materia Medica, as are either the produce of Hindoostan, or are brought to it from Asiatic countries, and are to be met with in the Bazars of populous Towns; including many Drugs of the Tamool, Arabian, and Persian Materia Medica; as also the names given by the Natives to different articles of diet, and other things necessary for the comfort of sick. The fine binding on the present copy suggests that it was bound for presentation - but there is no internal evidence to support this and no apparent connection between Lord Bloomfield and the author. A possibility is that Ainslie presented the work to Bloomfield because he was the confidant of the Prince Regent (Bloomfield served the future George IV as his gentleman-in-waiting, chief equerry and eventually private secretary from about 1811 to 1822).