Pamphlets from India on the brink of the fight for Independence

[Indian National Congress]. Volume of ten pamphlets, including Hume's speech, The People's Cause, The Mutiny and the Congress; Lala Lajpat Rai's Open Letters to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

€ 4,500.00

A volume of ten scarce pamphlets furthering the cause of the Indian National Congress party, whose aim was initially better economic rights and access to Indian Civil Service exams for native Indians, but which would become deeply rooted in the push for full Indian independence. Ranging from the early days of 1888 to the increasingly revolutionary period of 1916, the pamphlets include important sources rarely found in institutional collections, including:

1) Hume, Allan. The People's Cause: A Speech. Ayr, September 11th, 1890. Allan Hume was the founder of the Indian National Congress, and his speech is often referenced in secondary literature, but only one copy is located in library catalogues, and is currently at the University of Bristol.

2) [Mallika, Isanachandra]. The Mutiny and the Congress. By an Old Bengalee. A Friend to the Great National Cause. Serampore: Serampore Printing House, 1891. The only copies of this scarce publication to be found in institutions are held by the British Library.

3) [Rai, Lala Lajpat]. Open Letters to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, K.C.S.I., by the Son of an Old Follower of His. Reprinted from the Tribu[n]e. Lahore: Tribune Press, Anarkali, 1888. Published anonymously by the revolutionary better known as Punjab Kesari, or the Lion of Punjab, Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) is one of the best-known faces of the Independence movement, who died two weeks after sustaining wounds after he was attacked by the Lahore police during protests against the Simon Commission. Only two other copies are found in institutions, in the British Library and at Cambridge.

4) [Colvin, Sir Auckland / Hume, Allan]. Audi Alteram Partem, being Two Letters on Certain Aspects of the Indian National Congress Movement. [Calcutta]: Calcutta Central Press Co., 1888.

5) The Indian National Congress. An Open Letter to the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava and Earl of Ava, by Eardley Norton, Madras. 1888.

6) Indian National Congress: Ninth Annual Session. Presidential Address by Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, M. P. Delivered at Lahore on the 27th December, 1893. London: British Committee of the Indian National Congress, [1894].

7) Home Rule Series No. 1. Congress Speeches on Self-Government. Madras: for the Editorial Board of the All-India Self-Government Propaganda Fund by Annie Besant at the Vasanta Press, 1916.

8) Indian National Congress. Speeches delivered at a Luncheon given in honour of Sir W. Wedderburn, Bart. ... at the National Liberal Club, London. London: Indian Political Agency, 1889.

9) Norton, Eardley. An Open Letter to the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava and Earl of Ava on the Indian National Congress.London: Indian Political Agency, 1889.

10) The Indian National Congress: Session at Allahabad, December, 1888. Impressions of Two English Visitors. London: Indian Political Agency, 1889.