Q: Why do a surprisingly large proportion of authors’ surnames in French Books on India have the particule de noblesse (‘de La’, ‘Du’ and ‘D’*…+’)? Does this suggest a disproportionate level of interest in France and India by members of the nobility? Or did members of this socio-economic group have a greater trading interest in India as investors? Excluding books published before 1754 we find a total of 105 such names in total, with 85 between 1754 and 1931. A marquis features in 1903, a duke in 1898 and a prince in 1906.

Q: What is the symbolic significance of the representation of this lone woman in these composed images of the recent demolition of a classical late nineteenth-century Bengali mansion in the northern suburbs of Chandannagar/Chandernagore/Chandernagor? All photographs are from a private family archive and are copyright protected. Reproduction by permission only.