Important record of the educational and legal community of Madras (Chennai) in 1871 under direct British rule.

This address is dedicated to John Bruce Norton (1815–1883), Madras Judge and Professor, who during his thirty years in Madras (1842-71) consistently supported the education of Indians and increased legal protections for them. In 1853 he published an attack on the East India Company's judges and rule in Madras, which induced him to lead the legal reforms in the Madrassi judiciary for the following twenty years. His conduct during the Rebellion is also well regarded: 'In 1857–58, while the less thoughtful of your countrymen were carried away by passion… you remained a staunch advocate of the native cause and, rightly judging the real state of native feeling, spared no efforts to disabuse the minds of Englishmen at home and to draw attention to the real grievances of the country'.

The collection of over 1,000 Indian signatures represents a unique record of the legal community of Madras and reveals all sorts of cultural information. Nearly every name is Indian, but most are written in English, reflecting the continuing dominance of English but also the education and discretion of the signees in using the recipient's language. The extent and mix of surnames, 'Moody', 'Naidoo', 'Ayajan', reveals the diversity of connections within the literate society of Madras as well as interestingly revealing those who chose not to sign in English but their own language. The four most important signatures, double signed in Urdu and English, are four local Princes, including Zahir-ud-Daula (d.1879), who was made Nawab of Arcot in 1874, and his brother Intizam-ul-Mulk (d.1889) who succeeded him, as well as 'Mouzzuz oad Dowlah' and 'Oomduth oad Dolawh'.

Large folio (595 x 470 mm), 7 leaves of parchment, 6 with approximately 1,000 manuscript names in Latin (English), Tamil, Devanagari, and Arabic scripts, in four columns to rectos only, covering leaf printed and framed in gilt, sometime folded in quarters, a little creased, very good.