Original Persian Letters, And Other Documents, With Fac-Similes. Stewart, Charles (Trans.)

First and only edition of this compilation of "original papers and official documents" framed to "initiate" aspiring Company writers "in the practical part of [their] duties" (Preface). Moderately represented institutionally, perhaps a dozen locations on Library Hub, but uncommon in commerce just a single unprepossessing copy noted at auction. The author Charles Stewart, (1764–1837), entered the EIC's Bengal Army in 1781 as cadet and served for over a a quarter century, leaving as major in 1808. On Wellesley's foundation in 1800 of Fort William College at Calcutta as a centre for the training of British officials in Oriental studies, Stewart was appointed assistant professor of Persian, but in 1806 he returned to England. "The following year he was appointed to the professorship of Arabic, Persian, and Hindustani, in the East India College, Haileybury, a post he retained until 1827. His publications were numerous. He wrote on historical and literary subjects, as well as compiling bibliographical and biographical works such as A descriptive catalogue of the oriental library of the late Tippoo Sultan of Mysore, to which are prefixed memoirs of Hyder Aly and his son, Tippoo Sultan. He also translated several books from Persian and Arabic, notably The seventh chapter of 'Anvari Soohyly', with an English translation and analysis of all the Arabic words and The Mulfuzat Timury, or, Autobiographical memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Timur, translated" (ODNB). He was a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, and a member of the Königliche Akademie der Wissenschaften of Munich, in 1831 received the gold medal of the Oriental Translation Fund. Appealing copy of this uncommon and interesting "manual" for British administrators in India, the plates a particularly attractive feature. Quarto (262 x 210 mm). Contemporary half calf, flat spine, brown morocco label, compartments formed by a star and pearl gilt roll, brown Schrottel pattern marbled boards. Lithographic frontispiece of the "Cufic Alphabet" and 23 other similar plates on 22 sheets, one of them folding; texts given in Persian with English translations throughout. A little rubbed, and bumped at the extremities, neatly rebacked with the original spine laid down, hinges lined with linen, pale toning to the text and occasional light off-setting from the plates, but overall very good.