Deeper than indigo : (Record no. 31344)

MARC details
ISBN
International Standard Book Number 9781909339538
DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION NUMBER
Call number 954.031 BA DE
MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL AUTHOR
Authors Paul, Jenny Balfour
TITLE STATEMENT
Title Deeper than indigo :
Subtitle tracing Thomas Machell, forgotten explorer /
Statement of responsibility, etc. Jenny Balfour Paul
PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (IMPRINT)
Place of publication Surbiton, Surrey :
Publisher Medina Publishing,
Date c2015.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent 320 p., 32 p. of plates :
Other Details co. ill., maps ;
Size 24 cm.
GENERAL NOTE
General note Color map on front and back lining papers.
SUMMARY
Summary "This intriguing odyssey, set on the edges of time, encompasses biography, memoir, detective story, travelogue and history to tell a remarkable tale of East-West connections and a mysterious love ... The author’s quest begins when the word ‘indigo’ draws her to the illustrated journals, now in the British Library, of Victorian explorer Thomas Machell. She finds her life to have striking echoes of his, not least travels to and within India, a career in indigo, and a passion for journal writing. She is also intrigued by his aspiration to write ‘a novel in the form of an autobiography’ and by his quirky water colour sketches. Machell of Crackenthorpe, born in 1824, first demonstrated his yearning for adventure when only twelve, and at sixteen left the family rectory to follow his dream of travelling to the East. By chance, he witnessed many important historical events, including the infamous ‘First Opium War’ and the ‘Indian Mutiny’. He spent most of his adult life in India; the author follows him to indigo plantations of rural Bengal and Bangladesh, to coffee estates in Kerala’s Malabar Hills, to unexplored regions of central India and to the city of Calcutta. Machell also travelled up the Indus River to Kashmir and the North-West Frontier and undertook an intrepid sea voyage with Muslim merchants. When the author voyages aboard the last freighter to take passengers from UK to India, she faces the same threat of pirate attack in the Red Sea as Machell. She also follows in his wake by cargo ship to the most remote Poly�ne�sian islands, setting for his passionate love affair, and she seeks his colourful descendants in the New World. This remarkable tale of East-West connections brings to life the untold story of a spirited outsider at the height of the British Raj. Serendipity, intuition and an enchanting relationship, as well as the author’s quest to uncover the missing years of Machell’s life, give this book its magical extra dimension."--
SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical Heading Explorers
General India
Form Biography
MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL AUTHOR
-- 6407
-- Thomas Machell, explorer, writer and artist, was born near York in 1824. As a teenager he sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India and on to China where he experienced the ‘First Opium War’. His next voyage was around Cape Horn to the Polynesian Islands of the Marquesas, on a ship carrying coal and guano. Returning to India, he worked in indigo in Bengal, coffee in Kerala and with bullock transport in central India. He also travelled up the Indus to the North-West Frontier and Kashmir and in the Arab world by land and by sea with Muslim merchants. He died in India in 1864, aged 39.
SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
-- 4652
SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
-- 6408
Holdings
Date last seen Full call number Barcode Price effective from Koha item type Lost status Source of classification or shelving scheme Damaged status Not for loan Withdrawn status Permanent location Current location Shelving location Date acquired Source of acquisition
24/05/2017 954.031 BA DE T0056411 24/05/2017 REGULAR   Dewey Decimal Classification       University of Wollongong in Dubai University of Wollongong in Dubai Main Collection 17/07/2017 Medina