(British Parliamentary Paper 601) Report from Select Committee on the Suppression of the Calcutta Journal; with Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix, Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 4 August 1834

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Self-wraps 21 x 33cm. viii + 168pp (Report, Buckingham's Petition, Minutes of Evidence) + 142pp (Appendix), disbound from a larger volume. Near fine with extraction residue to the spine and contemporary neat calligraphic hand-numbering to recto top corners. The Appendix Section IX (pp101-109) contains several notes and amendments printed in red, and in some cases the black text to which they refer neatly crossed through with red lines. This document appears to be rare, with Worldcat and Jisc recording an original print version at UCL, and Proquest 2006 electronic versions elsewhere. Buckingham had established the Calcutta Journal in 1818 primarily as a means to hold the British East India Company and Bengal Government to account: ?to admonish Governors of their duties, to warn them furiously of their faults, and to tell disagreeable truths?. In spite of the anger this caused, it appeared during the tenure of the Company's Governor General, Lord Hastings, who supported a free press. But soon after Hastings left in Jan 1823, his acting replacement John Adam gave Buckingham two months to quit India, suppressed his Journal, and imposed restrictions on newspaper criticism. On 9 May 1826, Buckingham submitted a Petition to the House of Commons respecting the Liberty of the Press. Included here, it describes how he came to be in India, having been asked by British and other European merchants in Egypt to do a maritime survey the Red Sea, and travel to India via Arabia to encourage British merchants "to revive the lucrative commerce" along ancient routes. He describes the establishment and suppression of the Journal, the impact this had (a "dreadful calamity, which threatened to plunge your petitioner and his family into irretrievable misery") and his unsuccessful requests to return to gather what remained of his property. By the time his case was brought before the Select Committee in 1834, he was serving as MP for Sheffield and advocating social reform. The Committee examined the circumstances of the suppression, the loss of property, and whether and what compensation was due. Based on the detailed evidence and supporting papers included here, and recognition that the Journal had been "a highly profitable concern", it found in Buckingham's favour. He was subsequently awarded a £200 annual pension from the Company. N° de ref. del artículo 4469

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