Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

Fanny Parks

Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque

Published: Pelham Richardson, Cornhill, 1850

Edition: 1st

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2 Vols. 479pp & 523pp.

Blue cloth covered board elaborately decorated in gilt.
Endpapers foxed. Bookplate of Maurice Green to front endpapers of both volumes. Corners bumped. Tissue guard of frontispiece in Vol 2 crumpled and torn at corner. This frontispiece 'Kaniyajee and the Gopees' mildly foxed.

A very good set which includes the usually missing Elevation of the Himalayas in a rear pocket. With lavish, beautiful and intricate hand coloured lithographs.

A Very Good set indeed.

Fanny Parks or Parkes (née Frances Susanna Archer) (1794-1875) was a travel writer from Wales. She is known for keeping extensive journals about colonial India, where she lived for twenty-four years. These are recorded in her memoirs Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque.

Fanny lived in India between 1822 and 1846 with a break in England and Cape Town between 1839 and 1844. Parks began living in Calcutta in 1822, before moving to Allahabad ten years later due to her husband's posting. Parks wrote two volumes about her time traveling through India on horseback and befriending people around her, while learning Persian, Hindustani and Urdu. Her detailed memoirs written in a lively style reveal her independence of mind.

Some of Parks' writings cover topics which were controversial at the time. One of the most extreme examples was the murder of a woman in sati by those who felt that male heirs were more entitled to her possessions. Parks condemned the event and went on to criticize the laws governing married women in England. Parks also protested about a plan to sell the Taj Mahal, which she compared to Westminster Abbey. Clashing with the lack of respect for Indian culture commonly found in Europe, Parks described natural beauty in Delhi and Benares, as well as fascinating dress and cuisine. In one of Parks' last entries, she described feeling disenchanted with Europe after leaving India.

  • Binding Condition: Very Good
  • Overall Condition: Very Good +
  • Size: 4tos
  • Sold By: The Book Shoppe
  • Contact Person: Ray van Wyk
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 021 7131528
  • Preferred Payment Methods: EFT, Card Payments (in store), Card Payments (please contact us for "card not present" transactions)
  • Trade Associations: AA Approved


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