This seminal 19th-century book is a visual and topographical record of the sacred city of Benares (Varanasi). Conceived during James Prinsep's residence in India for a decade, the work presents a carefully observed series of drawings documenting the city's ghats, temples, mosques, palaces, and riverfront architecture, as well as scenes of daily life, religious rituals, and civic activity along the Ganges.The drawings were translated into 34 finely executed lithographs and etchings by leading artists of the period, including Louis Haghe, resulting in plates of remarkable clarity, scale, and atmospheric depth. Accompanied by descriptive text, the volume combines artistic sensibility with antiquarian and scholarly insight, reflecting Prinsep's deep engagement with Indian history, epigraphy, and urban culture.Signed by the author, issued originally in parts and later published in London, Benares Illustrated stands as one of the earliest and most important pictorial surveys of an Indian city, valued today for its documentary significance, architectural detail, and its role in shaping 19th-century European perceptions of India's sacred geography.

The book is well-used and shows age-related wear.

This lot is over one hundred years old or National Art Treasure, cannot be exported out of India as per Antiques and Art Treasures Act, 1972 (payment only in Indian Rupees)