By Temple Shrine & Lotus Pool
Being A Volume In Morgan & Scott's Missionary Series
Published by Morgan & Scott Ltd: London 1910 1st Edition
"By Temple Shrine and Lotus Pool is a fascinating missionary travel narrative by William Robinson, who spent many years working in South India. Written as part of Morgan & Scott's respected Missionary Series, the book offers a detailed account of Indian religious life, customs, beliefs, and social conditions as observed by a Christian missionary in the early twentieth century. Robinson combines personal experience with cultural commentary, guiding readers through temple cities, sacred shrines, pilgrimage centres, and the everyday lives of the people he encountered during his work in the Madras Presidency.
The volume provides vivid descriptions of Hindu worship, festivals, temple architecture, caste practices, and village life, while also documenting the challenges and opportunities faced by Christian missionaries in colonial India. Robinson writes with the aim of informing Western readers about the religious traditions and social structures of the subcontinent, illustrating both the spiritual significance of India's ancient faiths and the efforts of missionary organisations seeking to establish Christian communities. As such, the work serves as both a travel account and an important historical record of missionary perspectives during the final decades of the British Raj.
Published in 1910 and edited by the noted scholar and missionary advocate George Smith, this first edition is especially attractive in its original Art Nouveau-style decorated cloth binding featuring lotus motifs and elaborate gilt decoration. Adding further interest is the contemporary Sunday School prize plate from Holy Trinity Church, Oakleigh, awarded to Harold Simson on 30 November 1913, providing a tangible link to the book's early Australian ownership. Today the volume remains of interest to collectors of missionary literature, colonial history, Indian studies, and early twentieth-century travel writing."
