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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
James Forbes Fonds
General material designation
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Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on creator.
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)
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between approximately 1796 and 1799 (Creation)
- Creator
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
Physical description area
Physical description
17 cm of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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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. After his return to England he married Rose Gaylard (1788), and spent considerable time travelling Europe.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds is chiefly composed of five-volume fair copy of a manuscript travel journal prepared by Forbes described his journeys 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 on current events, such as the French Revolution, and comparison between the places he visited and his native England. The fonds also contains a letter to Forbes from his grandson, the Count of Montalembert. 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.
Notes area
Physical condition
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Alternative identifier(s)
Legacy call number
M264.Bd276-280
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819 (Creator)