Official documents, relative to the negotiations carried on by Tippoo Sultaun, with the French Nation, and other foreign states, for purposes hostile to the British nation; to which is added, proceedings of a Jacobin club, formed at Seringapatam, by the French soldiers in the corps commanded by M. Dompart, with a translation ... Printed by order of the ... Governor General ...Calcutta, Honorable Company’s Press, 1799. Super Royal 4to (33.5 x 25 cm). Never bound, but side stitched through 3 holes.

XX, [2], 195, [1] pp.A British propaganda publication, printed in Calcutta, transcribing “secret” documents that the British supposedly found in the palace of Seringapatam: primarily Tipu Sultan’s correspondence with the French, considered a betrayal of the British. Tipu Sultan (1750-1799), ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India, took part in a long-standing military feud with the British, but made peace with them in 1792. When the French under Napoleon made a push for India in 1798 the British attacked Tipu’s forces once again, starting the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War and eventually killing Tipu Sultan in the attack on Seringapatam. He had a fearsome reputation as the “Tiger of Mysore” and the present publication attempts to discredit him as a traitor. His supposed affiliation with the French Jacobin Club would have especially concerned British readers. Most of the correspondence between Tipu Sultan, the French and their allies (including Zaman Shah Durrani, ruler of what was to become Afghanistan) is printed in parallel columns in English and French. Also included is the text of a letter from Tipu Sultan printed letterpress in Persian (in the nasta‘liq script): 9 lines of type, apparently set in the nasta‘liq type cut under the direction of Charles Wilkins (1749-1836), who served the East India Company in India and became their leading orientalist. It was first used, at Calcutta, in 1781. The only earlier type for the script that has been clearly documented is thought to have been cut in the 1590s for the Propaganda Fide in Rome, who used it around 1633. Neil Benjamin Edmonstone translated the Persian and G.G. Keble the French. Although the book is a true very large quarto (point holes along the fold at the head and deckles at the foot and fore-edge), the chainlines are vertical, though one would not expect sheets this large to be made in double moulds (the usual reason for chainlines parallel to the long axis of the sheet).In good condition. Wholly untrimmed and with most bolts unopened and the point holes present.l Shaw, Printing in Calcutta, 359; Shaw, SABREB, sab00086; not in Cat. East-India Comp.