Calcutta-Howrah Town Guide Map.

only known copy

A rare set of one of the earliest accurate large scale maps of Calcutta showing the roads, buildings, tram system, and infrastructure layout, issued just before the birth of the Non-Cooperation Movement.

Colonel Charles Henry Dudley Ryder (1868-1945) was the Surveyor General of India from 1919 to 1924. He oversaw surveys of China, Tibet and the Himalayas, the North-West Frontier, Persia, Iraq, and India. His tenure would have been under heavy pressure during one of the peak's of India's independence movement following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The title of the maps, being a Town Guide, suggests an avoidance of antagonism with these maps perhaps serving as a foundation on which to produce accurate district guide maps of Calcutta to locals and tourists.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre occurred in 1919 and the Calcutta tram workers were on strike, formally forming as a trade union in 1920. The country also saw a surge in violence following the arrest of Gandhi in 1922. Along with the publication clearly being stamped "Restricted", this perhaps explains why there is no sheet 10. The index indicates that it should be in the centre of the city and perhaps the office restricted the sheet which gave the precise location of British offices, for they were certainly concerned enough to leave strategic locations such as Fort William blank.

This is the only known copy we can identify of any edition. We can find no institutional copies of either the first or second edition, with no copies in the Survey of India Records in Dehradun or the India Office Records in the British Library.

First edition, sheet 12 supplied from second edition, with additional supplementary sheets no. 18 and no. 19 that were issued with the second edition only; 18 heliozincographed maps and title on 19 sheets, loosely rolled together, ranging from 65 x 90 to 70 x 100 cm, scale 1:5,280, or 12 inches to 1 mile, each stamped "Restricted", lacking sheet 10, edges a little frayed with a few marginal tears to sheet no. 12, sheet no. 13 with a few small wormholes with only one affecting a couple cm of map, in total would span 4.2 by 3 metres if put together.