1870s Engravings (1 results)

Five engravings in three columns 23.5 x 10 cms; on a single newspaper leaf, 28.7 x 40.8 cm, unrelated text on the verso, lower margin creased with a small central tear affecting the caption (no loss), the image sin very good condition. Engravings from Harper's Weekly in November 1872, all centred on the quinine production in Darjeeling. Production began in the 1860s from seeds sent by the famed botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker. Quinine proved indispensable to British rule in India and they invested heavily in plantations to sure up supply.The anti-malarial was vital for colonial expansion, "quinine coursed through the bloodstream of empire" (Townsend Middleton, "Becoming after: The Lives and Politics of Quinine?s Remains" in Cultural Anthropology, Vol. 36, Issue 2, pp. 282-311, 2014), although probably known more to the readers of Harper's Weekly as an essential for gin and tonic. The five engravings: Foot-Bridge over the River Rungbee Buttress of Suspension Bridge over the River Teestah Cinchona Succirubra Thirty Feet High (signed, but indecipherable) Native of Sikkim Cane Suspension Bridge over the Great Runjeet.