Paper Jewels: Postcards from the Raj

Beautifully illustrated with rare Picture Postcards from the British Raj, this book covers all the types of Picture Postcards from that era. Bit pricey but worth it.

lightening speed shipping and item as described

I too collect vintage Indian postcards and find the book too good for reference.

Very beautiful collection of postcards with background information.

Found things in this book which were nowhere to be found ! Thank You Omar Khan for such beautiful piece of work !

What I liked most about Omar Khan's book was how accessible and well edited it was. Right from the preface, it uses examples from postcards and gives real-time text written on the postcards as well as commentary to break myths as well as explain the history and timelines of the later British Raj - from 1897-1947. It was the period between the 1857 Mutiny and independence and we all know the versions of the Indian National Congress and, as an art history student, the rise of Shantiniketan and Rabindranath Tagore in Calcutta but this book tells the stories of the ordinary people - what they wore and how they were influenced by the rest of the world, especially by Europe and the art movements there around World War I. To make this simpler, it divides India and Ceylon into six sections and uses postcards to tell the stories of local entrepreneurs, artists, photographers. I get to see how monuments looked a hundred years ago. It also shows how images of India were formed at this time - fakirs, nautch girls, famine victims etc. - all of which were grist for postcards in this time when photography was finally becoming democratised. And if all this isn't interesting enough, Khan has tied up his observations with how he's collected these postcards - the auctions, the swapping, the illegal photographing in archives and libraries while other people politely pretend not to notice.It's a big book with the stories of 518 postcards, but it's well edited. It's probably only a part of Khan's collection because Khan and the editors have decided to put 3000 postcards in the Internet archives as part of Creative Commons - which says a lot about how crazy the man must be about postcards that he's willing to share them with us for free.Go for this book if you want to see a well-written 'show and tell' book.

Collector's item

This book is absolutely *wonderful*! It has a *huge* selection of postcards (mostly in color) which cover the period from 1892-1947. The details in the artwork are terrific, plus there's a significant amount of very interesting and informative written material. Literally every single page is very impressive.

A beautiful book of wonderful historical postcards from the days of the Raj discovered, curated and knowledgeably explained through the voice of Omran Khan who’s enthusiasm and indeed passion for this project comes through on every page. Also commend the quality of the images and publication. Worth every penny.