NHD3/311-536

NHD3/311-536

Two hundred and twenty-six drawings in watercolour and pencil depicting 169 birds (151 separate drawings and 18 duplicates), 38 mammals and 19 reptilia from India and the East Indies; bound in a volume measuring 21 by 14 inches. (No.158 in Kaye's ‘Catalogue of Eur. MSS.’).

The bulk of this Collection was made under the supervision of Francis Buchanan (later Buchanan-Hamilton, 1762-1829) while he was Superintendent of the Institution for Promoting the Natural History of India at Barrackpore between 1804 and 1805. For Buchanan-Hamilton, see Archer's Natural History Drawings in the India Office Library, pp.29-33, 39-40. A few drawings, however, which are included in this collection were probably made between 1805 and 1807 when William Lloyd Gibbons, Buchanan's successor, was Superintendent. No.405, for example, is inscribed, 'Among the drawings of Mr. Gibbons left with Dr. Fleming. Sent home Jany. 1808'.

The Collection consists of drawings which appear to have arrived at India House at six different times. Unfortunately, at the time of mounting, many drawings were trimmed and the note of their dates of arrival removed. This makes it impossible to group all the drawings by dates of acquisition. There are, however, a number of letters and lists in the Library which record the arrival of certain groups. The number of drawings in the Buchanan and the 'G & B' collection and the number of drawings received by the Library by no means tally and it seems possible that certain drawings were transferred without due record.

The Library's drawings comprise the following groups:

i. Drawings delivered at India House in 1806 when Buchanan was on leave. Although no record of these exists in the Library, zoological drawings in the Library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal bear endorsements, 'Copy of Drawing delivered at India House, 1806'.

ii. Fifty drawings despatched by Gibbons on 26th January 1807 and received on 11th September 1807.

iii. Two hundred and thirty drawings sent by Gibbons on 27th June 1807 and received in January 1808. These two groups of drawings had been made partly under the supervision of Buchanan and partly of Gibbons. Since there are now only 99 drawings in the Gibbons and Buchanan Collection, certain of the drawings despatched by Gibbons must have been incorporated in the Buchanan Collection.

iv. Twenty-eight drawings (26 of birds and 2 of reptilia) sent by Dr. Fleming in January 1808 and received in August 1808. These had been left with him when Gibbons relinquished the post of Superintendent in April 1807. The Library's Day Book records, 'Recd. from the Examiner's Office, per Castle Eden, 26 Drawings of birds and two of tortoises, transmitted from Bengal by desire of Dr. John Fleming for the Library'. No.405 is inscribed, 'Among the drawings of Mr. Gibbons left with Dr. Fleming. Sent home Jany. 1808'. An additional consignment, however, must also have been sent at this time for there are 30 drawings in the Buchanan Collection which are inscribed as being received in August 1808, amongst them a number of mammals, which are not mentioned in the above Day Book entry. A list in the Library (Mss Eur D562/21) records that a group of 26 drawings of mammals was at some time received from Buchanan.

v. One hundred and thirty-five botanical drawings and 14 drawings of mammals and birds were sent by Wallich from the Botanic Garden on 16th December 1816 and received on 21st July 1817. The botanical drawings were transferred to Kew in 1879, but the rest are in the Buchanan Collection and are inscribed '1817' or 'Recd. 21 July, 1817'. (Nos.316, 319, 320, 504.)

vi. One hundred and eight drawings of mammals were sent by Wallich on 3rd July 1818 and were received in the Library on 1st June 1819. 19 drawings in the Buchanan collection are inscribed, 'Recd. 1 June, 1819'. In the covering letter Wallich wrote, 'In obedience to the instructions contained in a letter from the Chief Secretary to Government dated the 17th August 1816, I have the honor to send you, for the purpose of their being forwarded to the Honorable Court of Directors 108 sheets of Original drawings of Dr. Buchanan, according to the accompanying list, which have been copied since the 16th December 1816, when the first portion of that collection was transmitted to Govemment.' These apparently are some of the original drawings made at Barrackpore which were left at the Calcutta Botanic Garden when Buchanan retired in 1815. They were copied and then sent to England. The drawings which McClelland saw at the Botanic Garden in 1836 were probably mostly copies, although some originals, e.g. of fishes, still remained and were later sent to the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Two volumes of descriptions were sent home from Barrackpore. One volume (Mss Eur D541) is damaged but descriptions of 75 birds remain (Nos.7-89, 93, 94) , while further descriptions of 31 birds, .24 mammals and 4 reptilia are given in Mss Eur D94 (No.159 in Kaye's Catalogue of Eur. MSS.) : of these latter descriptions, all but three relate to the drawings in the Buchanan Collection. The remaining three apply to Nos.281-3, the Buchanan drawings in the Gibbons and Buchanan Collection.

Many of the drawings are by Haludar (Nos.481, 482, 484, 487-9, 493, 497, 499, 501, 511, 513, 514, 518-20) , who may well have been the retained artist at the menagerie. Other drawings (Nos.480, 490, 496, 506, 509, and 510) are inscribed as being made by E. Barton, i.e. Ezekiel Barton, a talented draftsman, q.v. for his topographical drawings. Since these drawings are indistinguishable in style from those by Haludar and other Indian draftsmen, it would seem that such inscriptions are not necessarily reliable.

A number of the drawings of mammals bear, in addition to the Latin name, inscriptions in Bengali ('of the Bengalese'), in Urdu ('of the Musulmans') , in Hindi ('of Hindustan Proper') and sometimes in Telugu ('of the Telingas'). Inscriptions by Buchanan himself giving the Latin name and provenance occur on some drawings, e.g. 313.

Copies of a number of these Barrackpore drawings appear in the Wellesley Collection, e.g. Nos.489, 510 and 511 correspond to ff.13, 19, and 25 in the Wellesley Collection of mammals (NHD33).

Some of the drawings of tortoises and turtles (Nos.523-5, 527, 528, 530, 532-6) were used for engravings in J.E. Gray and T. Hardwicke, ‘Illustrations of Indian Zoology’ (London, 1830-35).