Home / Browse / Travel & Exploration / Narrative by Major-General John Campbell, C.B. of his Operations in the Hill Tracts of Orissa for the Suppression of Human Sacrifices and Female Infanticide.
(CAMPBELL, John, Major-General.)
Narrative by Major-General John Campbell, C.B. of his Operations in the Hill Tracts of Orissa for the Suppression of Human Sacrifices and Female Infanticide.
Publisher: Hurst and Blackett, Printed for Private Circulation, 1861
Stock code: 71799
Price: £450 Currency Conversion
First edition, uncommon, just 3 copies on COPAC. Campbell's version of events in Khondistan initiated a sharp controversy with William Macpherson, brother of Major Samuel Charters Macpherson, who edited the latter's correspondence for publication in 1865. Major Macpherson disagreed totally with Campbell as to the best methods to pursue in the suppression of the Meriah, human sacrifices, of the Khonds. Macpherson's persuasive methods reaped early success in Gumsur, but, perhaps due to interference by Campbell's allies, failed to make an impact in Boad. Macpherson was replaced by Campbell (who immediately resorted to coercion), and charges laid against him. Macpherson was cleared and the governor-general, Lord Dalhousie, declared that nothing could compensate Macpherson for the treatment that he had undergone. The success of this privately-produced memoir led Campbell to publish a revised edition some three years later. Contemporary bookplate with the Campbell crest to the front pastedown.
Octavo, original dun pebble-grained cloth, title gilt to the spine, edges sprinkled red. Somewhat sunned at the spine, boards slightly mottled, spine relined, corners stiffened, light browning.
