Posted on: 6 December 2013

Digital Rare Book:
Coronation Durbar Delhi 1911
Official Directory with Maps
Printed by The Superintendent, Government Printing, Calcutta - 1911


Read Book Online:

http://bit.ly/18oyuBm


Download pdf Book:

http://bit.ly/195GgRm


Aout this painting:

The State Entry into Delhi
by Roderick Dempster MacKenzie

Date painted: 1907
Oil on canvas, 289.8 x 366 cm
Collection: Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

This painting shows the Delhi Durbar of 1903 – a ceremonial procession to mark the occasion when King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were declared Emperor and Empress of India.

On a grand scale the image captures the procession of British officials and Indian Maharajas as they enter the Durbar grounds on elephants, passing the Jami Masjid or Friday Mosque. The artist has depicted the huge crowds attending the event, the animals and architecture in great detail, drawing the viewer into the spectacle.

There were three Delhi Durbars – ceremonial gatherings – held in 1877, 1903 and 1911; they were dazzling state occasions to mark the declaration of British monarchs’ rule over India.

This painting was the first item bought for the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum founded in the 1980s. The collection was transferred to Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives in 2013. By displaying it here, we hope it will stimulate debate about if and how its meaning for people has changed since 1907.


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I think I have a copy of this !!! :-)

Venkatesh, seen this?

when all the kings paraded with all their wealth before the british royal couple

RBSI : Probably the best account of the King and Queen's visit in 1911 is recorded in " Historical Record of the Imperial Visit to India 1911" with plenty of rare photographs. Have seen it in Book Fairs but was much much too expensive to buy. Maybe you could provide the link for an online read!

Re: " The Historical Record of the Imperial Visit to India 1911 " I am fortunate to have a copy of this book in my collection, Arindam. It is a fairly hefty tome, I must say - " published for the Government of India, by John Murray, London, 1914 ". I bought it in a second-hand bookshop at Totnes (Devon) two or three years ago, and I think I paid about GB £ 90 for it - which was a little bit more than I was happily prepared to spend at the time - but, I thought the chance might not come my way again. It is a fascinating account of George V's tour - which it records in meticulous detail, on a day by day basis.

That was indeed a great bargain Julian. The cheapest copy on ABEBooks is available for $175 and a good copy is almost $400!!

Is that so ? Well, well. Thank you for the impromptu valuation, RBSI ! The copy that I own is still in quite good condition, and so I am pleased to discover that it might be worth as much as twice the sum that I paid for it ... Not that I have any plans to sell it.

beautiful indeed

Are the copies at Abebooks original? The ones at the Book Fair were priced at Rs 35,000 ( $700/£ 350 approx.). Ofcourse, it was hard bound and in very good condition.

Yes Arindam…they are first editions.

This is sooooooooooo beautiful