Thomas Starling Hindoostan Map, Plate XVIII — Family Cabinet Atlas, Hand Colored
$ 126.72
Description
Thomas Starling Hindoostan Map, Plate XVIII — Family Cabinet Atlas, Hand Colored. Plate XVIII from Thomas Starling's Family Cabinet Atlas (London, 1831-34) — a steel-engraved miniature map of Hindoostan with original period hand-coloring in wash over the political boundaries. The hair-thin lines and micro-printing remain crisp and fully readable nearly two centuries later — a defining quality of Starling's plates cited in Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers. Plate XVIII from Thomas Starling's Family Cabinet Atlas (London, 1831-34) — a steel-engraved miniature map of Hindoostan with original period hand-coloring in wash over the political boundaries. Published by Edward Bull under royal patronage of William IV and Queen Adelaide, the atlas was the pinnacle of the miniature-atlas format: vast geographic detail compressed into a leaf measuring roughly 3.5 by 5.5 inches, with a facing-page gazetteer providing the dense reference text. The engraving: Steel-engraved by Thomas Starling, the dominant miniature-cartography specialist of 1820s-40s London. The hair-thin lines and micro-printing remain crisp and fully readable nearly two centuries later — a defining quality of Starling's plates cited in Tooley's Dictionary of Mapmakers. Hand coloring: Original period wash coloring applied ca. 1830s to delineate political boundaries across the Indian subcontinent. Period hand-coloring is the key value lever for 19th-century atlas leaves, and is distinguishable from modern additions under UV. The subject: Pre-Crown-Rule British East India Company-era political geography of the Indian subcontinent — a subject that draws collectors of both British Raj cartography and Indian historical geography. Condition: Age-appropriate toning consistent with 190+ year old wove paper; original hand-color remains vivid with moderate original margins intact. Starling miniature-atlas leaves sit at a recognized mid-tier pedigree in the 19th-century atlas-leaf market, with India subjects carrying a modest premium driven by the British Raj cartography collector sub-field. Included: Loose leaf (recto map, verso gazetteer text), unframed.
