DELHI DURBAR 1903; BOURNE & SHEPHERD.

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The Coronation Durbar 1903. First edition; a superb visual celebration of the magnificent durbar that marked the accession of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as Emperor and Empress of India. Lasting two weeks, the event was "marked by displays of unexampled magnitude... [eclipsing] the splendours of the vanished Empire of the Moghuls" (introduction), culminating in a procession of the opulent retinues of the native princes.This was the second of the three Imperial Durbars, the others taking place in 1877 and 1911. Edward and Alexandra did not attend and were represented by the Duke of Connaught and the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, who was the moving force behind the celebrations, which have "often been seen as the apogee of the British empire in India" (ODNB). British press opinion towards such extravagance was decidedly mixed, even the Times noted that "it is power not pageantry on which our imperial strength is based" (cited in Cannadine, p.89). Curzon was at the centre of criticism from Indian writers for whom the Durbar, "far from proclaiming the unity of India and the greatness of the British Empire … merely served to reinforce an unequal division of wealth, and to demonstrate that India was 'a nation ruled by others'". Bourne & Shepherd, the most prestigious studio on the subcontinent, was the Durbar's official photographer. Its success was underpinned not simply by technical skill and commercial acumen, but also by its ability "to present a vision of India which coincided with

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