Wales, James, 1746 or 1747–1795, James Wales archive, 1786-1797
- Call Number:
- MSS 26
- Holdings:
- [Request]
- Creator:
- Wales, James, 1746 or 1747–1795
- Title(s):
- James Wales archive
- Date:
- 1786-1797
- Extent:
- 1 linear feet
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Abstract:
- The collection comprises diaries, notebooks, and other manuscript documents concerning the travels of James Wales in India, with a particular focus on antiquities of Poona and the nearby cave temples of Ellora.
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- Conditions Governing Access:
- The collection is open without restriction.
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Copyright UndeterminedThe collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Archives Department.
- Biographical/Historical:
- "The self-taught British artist James Wales arrived in Bombay in 1791, and immediately began to work on a series of 'Picturesque Prospects' of the city, for which he hired Robert Mabon, an East India Company soldier and draftsman, as an assistant. He published this project in 1795 as <title>Views of the Island of Bombay and its vicinity.</title> In June of 1792, Charles Warre Malet called Wales to Poona to paint portraits and history paintings, and Mabon accompanied him. Wales, like Forbes and Malet, had an interest in cave temples, and in his journal he describes a proposed publication called 'Indian Antiquities,' which would 'contain every excavated work worthy of attention on the West side of India.' He hired several assistants, both British and Indian, including Mabon and Gangaram Chintaman Tambat, for this project. Unfortunately Wales died from the 'Putrid air' inhaled while sketching the cave temples of Salsette before he could finish 'Indian Antiquities,' and Malet commissioned the artist Thomas Daniell to complete it for publication [as <title>Hindoo excavations in the mountain of Ellora</title>]."--Holly Shaffer, <title>Adapting the Eye</title> (2011).
- Scope and Content:
- The collection comprises diaries, notebooks, and other manuscript documents concerning the travels of James Wales in India, with a particular focus on antiquities of Poona and the nearby cave temples of Ellora.
- Arrangement:
- The collection is arranged into four series: I. Diaries; II. Cave descriptions and other notes; III. Drawings; IV. Material related to publications by James Wales.
- Genre:
- Diaries and Notebooks
- Subject Terms:
- BritishCave templesCavesDescription and travelEllora Caves (India)India
- Associated Places:
- IndiaMumbai (India)Pune (India)
- Associated People/Groups:
- Daniell, Thomas, 1749-1840Gaṅgārāma, active 18th centuryMabon, RobertMalet, Charles Warre, 1752-1815Wales, James, 1746 or 1747-1795
- Finding Aid Title:
- James Wales archive
- Collection PDF:
- https://ead-pdfs.library.yale.edu/11766.pdf
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/resources/11766
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/resources/11766?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1