Folio (16 7/8 x 23 1/4 inches). Title with hand-coloured vignette of the Thodahs, three hand-coloured lithographic plates, all drawn on stone by W.L. Walton after McCurdy, printed by C. Hullmandel. Expertly bound to style in contemporary dark green cloth-backed cream paper wrapper, modern dark green three-fold wrapper, all within a stylish dark green cloth box. Scarce series of magnificent hand-coloured panoramic mountain views of Ootacamund, Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala in Southern India. Until the latter part of the 18th century, the Nilgiri Hills were part of Tipu Sultan's kingdom of Mysore. Their relative elevation and mild summer climate were an obvious attraction for the British Raj. After their initial "discovery" in 1819 by an expedition led by John Sullivan (d.1855), collector of neighbouring Coimbatore province, the area was rapidly developed. Reports of the salubrious nature of the climate, combined with images of the spectacular scenery (such as those in the present work), ensured that the whole area swiftly became an important destination during the summer months. Indeed, Ootacamund, or Ooty, eventually served as the summer capital of the Madras Presidency, with access provided by a network of winding hill roads and a spectacular rack railway system built with financial support from the Madras government. The present work is very rare: only two tinted copies are listed as having sold at auction in the past thirty years, and even Major Abbey did not have a copy. The artist of the present work had previously published Views of the Neilgherries, Blue Mountains of Coimbetoor, Southern India (London: circa 1830), a work in the Abbey collection. Colour plates in order: 1. (Lithographed title 'The Thodahs'). 2. Ottacamund. West View. 3. Ottacamund. East View. 4. Ottacamund. East View.