James Forbes (artist)
Encyclopedia
James Forbes was a British
artist
and writer
. Born in London to a Scots family, Forbes travelled to India in 1765 as a writer for the British East India Company
and was resident there until 1784. He was a prolific writer and artist and filled 52,000 manuscript pages with notes and sketches concerning all aspects of Indian life, its wildlife, flora and architecture. In 1781 he visited the Taj Mahal
and became one of the first Europeans to draw it. After returning to England he married and toured continental Europe extensively until returning to England once more to write Oriental Memoirs. Largely based on his notes and sketches, it was subtitled selected and abridged from a series of familiar letters written during seventeen years residence in India: including observations on parts of Africa and South America, and a narrative of occurrences in four India voyages was published in volumes beginning in 1813. The book remains a universally valued document of the culture, flora and fauna of India at the time. Forbes also published a work in 1810 which advocated the conversion of Hindus to Christianity.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. Born in London to a Scots family, Forbes travelled to India in 1765 as a writer for the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
and was resident there until 1784. He was a prolific writer and artist and filled 52,000 manuscript pages with notes and sketches concerning all aspects of Indian life, its wildlife, flora and architecture. In 1781 he visited the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
and became one of the first Europeans to draw it. After returning to England he married and toured continental Europe extensively until returning to England once more to write Oriental Memoirs. Largely based on his notes and sketches, it was subtitled selected and abridged from a series of familiar letters written during seventeen years residence in India: including observations on parts of Africa and South America, and a narrative of occurrences in four India voyages was published in volumes beginning in 1813. The book remains a universally valued document of the culture, flora and fauna of India at the time. Forbes also published a work in 1810 which advocated the conversion of Hindus to Christianity.