SIMPSON, William.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Autobiography of William Simpson R.I. (Crimean Simpson). First edition, limited issue, number 23 of 100 copies only, with the ownership signature of Edward Macbean, Simpson's friend and fellow freemason. On the front pastedown are two signed and dated cartes de visite of Simpson, one a formal portrait by Maull (1873) and the other an extraordinary image of Simpson in the guise of an Indian fakir (1873)."During the Crimean War Simpson became a pioneer war artist: dispatched by the printsellers Colnaghi & Son, he recorded the naval battles in the Baltic Sea and then went on to Balaklava in November 1854 to make accurate sketches on the spot. After the Indian Mutiny, Day & Son sent Simpson to India on a roving commission, to make studies for a large-scale illustrated book. Over three years he visited much of the subcontinent, including Tibet and its Buddhist temples, the Himalayas, Kashmir, and Ceylon. When he returned to England in 1862, he had travelled 22,570 miles" (ODNB). In 1866, he became a special artist for the Illustrated London News, travelling to Asia, the US, the Middle East, and Africa. He wrote his autobiography in his final years, forbidding publication until after his death.Macbean (1845-1915), whose signature is on the title page, was initiated into freemasonry in 1883, having established a successful business in Simpson's hometown of Glasgow. In 1887, Simpson appointed Macbean as a steward in London's Quatuor Coronati lodge, having helped found it in 1884.

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