Important Notice

More Images

Niccolao Manucci, Storia do Mogor; or, Mogul India 1653–1708, London: John Murray, 1907–1908, 4 Volumes

Volume I: lxxxviii, 386 pp., including 13 black and white plates, [4 pp. publisher's advertisements]
Volume II: xi, 471 pp., including 13 black and white plates
Volume III: xiv, 509 pp., including 18 black and white plates
Volume IV: xiv, 605 pp., including 16 black and white plates [4 pp. publisher's advertisements], 1 folding map in the pocket at the rear; covers are bordered with an interlacing foliate arabesque and an elegant Moorish archway frame in black and crimson red, surrounding a medallion reminiscent of Mughal album margins. The gold-stamped monogram at the centre may reference the publisher or series, adding an additional bibliophilic distinction; top edges gilt, others uncut (each)
8.75 x 6 in (22.5 x 15 cm) (each)

FROM VENICE TO THE PEACOCK THRONE: MANUCCI’S STORIA DO MOGOR, IN ORNAMENTAL ORIENTALIST BINDING

William Irvine provided the translation, along with an introduction and notes. Edited under the supervision of the Royal Asiatic Society and published for the Government of India.

This is a visually striking and complete set of Storia do Mogor, the memoirs of Niccolao Manucci, an Italian traveller, self-taught physician, and courtier who spent over half a century in Mughal India. His vivid, occasionally embellished accounts remain among the richest European testimonies of 17th-century Indo-Mughal life.

Originally written in Portuguese and unpublished in his lifetime, the manuscript was eventually translated by the British scholar William Irvine. The four-volume English edition, issued by John Murray between 1907 and 1908, is a foundational text in the historiography of the Mughal court, bridging Mughal Persian chronicles with European narrative traditions.

The present binding is notable for its elaborate Orientalist design, a visual homage to Indo-Persian aesthetics: the covers are bordered with an interlacing foliate arabesque and an elegant Moorish archway frame, surrounding a medallion reminiscent of Mughal album margins. The gold-stamped monogram at the centre may reference the publisher or series, adding an additional bibliophilic distinction.

The four volumes encompass a wealth of information, from political events and courtly life to cultural and religious practices. The volumes cover the reigns of Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb, and their successors, with anecdotes about royal astrologers, intrigues of the zenana, European missionaries, and medical practices of the time. Irvine’s critical apparatus includes cross-references to Persian sources and commentary on Manucci’s interpretations.

Together, these volumes stand as a vital confluence of European observation and Indo-Mughal historiography—an indispensable primary source for understanding the political intricacies, cultural textures, and cosmopolitan realities of seventeenth-century India. A landmark in the historical literature of the Mughal Empire and a cornerstone of European travel writing on India, this handsomely bound edition remains highly prized by collectors and institutions alike for its narrative richness and historiographical value.

NON-EXPORTABLE