Books

London, T. Bensley, 1808. . First edition; landscape folio (58 x 43 cm approx.), letterpress title and 4 text leaves, 12 plates (11 hand-coloured aquatints and one hand-coloured soft-ground etching), unsigned but probably by William Daniell after Samuel Daniell, printed on Whatman paper watermarked 1801, original blue paper-backed drab wrappers, light wear to spine, modern light calf-backed foldover box, a fine copy. Samuel Daniell's Ceylon is the finest pictorial record of the island.Samuel Daniell (1775-1811), the youngest of the three highly talented Daniell brothers, did not live long enough to realise his full potential. However, he left behind an impressive body of work, including his remarkable views of Ceylon. Daniell arrived in Ceylon in 1805 aboard H.M.S. Greyhound. A protégé of the Governor, Sir Thomas Maitland, he was appointed Secretary to the Board of Revenue and Commerce in 1806. An eccentric character, he proposed sending 'Elephants' petit toes' pickled in strong…