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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
James Forbes Fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
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Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the creator of the materials in the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG 276
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
18 cm of textual records
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Name of creator
(1749-1819)
Biographical history
James Forbes was born in London and went to Bombay in 1765 as a writer for the East India Company. He remained there until 1784. A draughtsman and keen observer, he filled 52,000 manuscript pages with notes on the natural history, archaeology, and religious and social life of India; these were later digested into his Oriental Memoirs, published between 1813 and 1815. Forbes was also the author of the 1810 "Reflections on the Character of the Hundus and the Necessity of Converting them to Christianity." After his return to England he married Rose Gaylard (1788), and spent considerable time travelling Europe.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of manuscript travel journals, engravings, and letters of naturalist, artist, and author James Forbes. The fonds containsa five-volume fair copy of a manuscript travel journal prepared by Forbes describing his travels and stays in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland during 1796 and 1797. Entries describe the climates, cultures, art, monuments, and historical sites of the places he visited. Some entries also reflect current events, such as the French Revolution, and comparison between the places he visited and his native England. The journals were prepared by Forbes ostensibly for his daughter, to whom the first volume contains a dedication. The fifth volume contains an addendum dated 1799. The The fonds also contains two letters, one a letter to Forbes from his grandson, the Count of Montalembert, and one a letter from Forbes to his sister, Eliza Fothergill, dated 1788. The final materials in the fonds are two hand-coloured engravings of illustrations created by Forbes in 1771 and 1783, and published by Richard Bentley (London, 1834).
Notes area
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Alternative identifier(s)
Legacy call number
M264.Bd276-280