The Rulers of India and the Chiefs of Rajputana (1550-1897). Thomas Holbein Hendley. 1897. Published by W. Griggs, London 26 plates (18 colour), publisher's pictorial red morocco gilt, folio (370 x 270mm.), W. Griggs, 1897. Colonel Thomas Holbein Hendley CIE (21 April 1847 – 2 February 1917) was a British medical officer in the Indian Medical Service and an amateur authority on Indian art. He studied at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, where he was the gold medallist. He entered the Indian Medical Service as an assistant surgeon in October 1869, after taking his diplomas, and rose steadily until reaching the rank of Colonel in 1894, which he held until his retirement. From 1873 to 1897 he was the Residency Surgeon of Jaipur, and from 1894 to 1897 the Administrative Medical Officer for Rajputana. It is at this time that he had the opportunity to come in close contact with the Rajput Royal family and with close information after examining the collections of most of the native princes, and especially their libraries, pictures and portraits wrote this book. The book was pre-subscribed by the royal families.
In 1897 he was appointed Inspector-General of Hospitals in the North-West Provinces, moving to the same post in Bengal the following year and remaining there until 1903. A major attraction is its hardcover which has beautiful coat of arms designs, ornamentation on border and text printed in gold with red colour background and the same have been shown engraved on the back hardcover.