A Genuine Narrative of the Deplorable Deaths of 123 English Gentlemen and Others who were suffocated in the Black-Hole in Fort-William, at Calcutta, in the Kingdom of Bengal; in the night succeeding the 20th day of June, 1756. In a letter to a friend, by J.Z. Holwell, Esq

Description

First edition. 8vo. Modern quarter calf. 56pp. London, 1758.

Very scarce first person narrative by J.Z. Holwell (1711-1798), a doctor civilian administrator of the British East India Company, who was among those held in the prison at Fort William after the fort was captured by the troops of the Nawad of Bengal.

The so-called “Black Hole of Calcutta” was a jail cell approximately 14 x 18 feet, in which an unknown number of people (around 164 according to Holwell) were incarcerated overnight without adequate water or food. Approximately 143 of them died from suffocation before they were released the next morning.

Holwell became Governor of Bengal in 1760 and was among the first Europeans to study Indian Antiquities.

Price: R40 000.00

Edition: First Edition

Published: 1758

Publishers: A. Millar, London

Condition: Very good condition – Quarter calf, marbled boards lightly worn around the edges and brown endpapers.