The Captivity, Sufferings, and Escape of James Scurry, who was Detained a Prisoner During Ten Years in the Dominions of Hyder Ali and Tippoo Saib

Scurry, James

Published by Henry Fisher, London, 1824

About this Item

1824. First edition. 376pp. (lacking half-title page) and a tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of James Scurry. James Scurry (1766-1822) was a British soldier and memoirist. He was held captive by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan for 10 years (1780-1790) at Seringapatam. He had been kept as a prisoner, first at Bangalore and then moved to the Seringapatnam fort. After his escape from Tipu's army, in Chitterdroog, he reached an English camp. He prepared a narrative of his captivity in 1794, in which he wrote of the sufferings and treatment of the captured English soldiers, Mangalorean Catholics, and other prisoners of war by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, the rulers of the Kingdom of Mysore in India. It was not published until 1824, after his death. The book is bound in contemporary half leather over paper covered boards. The case of the book is in good to very good condition with signs of its age. There is shelf wear and soiling together with some water staining on the boards and a little loss to the leather on the tips of the top corners. There is no title label and the leather on the spine is scuffed with some staining and loss of about 1/8" from the bottom of the spine. The leather on the top 1" of the spine is damaged with loss, most noticeably near the fore spine edge. Both spine edges have an unusual repair using some type of thin material (Japanese paper?) either to reinforce or reattach the boards. The contents are tight and clean apart from a few small marks and a noticeable water stain on the fore edge and around the bottom corner of the first twenty or so pages, including the frontispiece and the title-page. There is some scattered foxing but this is mostly light apart from the first and last dozen or so pages that are more heavily affected. There is no inscription. Seller Inventory # gVIIndia04

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Captivity, Sufferings, and Escape of ...

Publisher: Henry Fisher, London

Publication Date: 1824

Binding: Half Leather Hardback

Condition: Good to Very Good

Edition: First Edition