William Hunter retired from his long career as a member of the
Indian Civil Service in March 1887 and settled in
Oxford, England. On 13 March 1889
Philip Lyttelton Gell, then Secretary to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, wrote to Hunter about Gell arranged the publication of the series by June 1889; with Hunter receiving £75 for each volume, and the author £25. Financial constraints forced the series to end at 28 volumes in spite of Hunter's disappointment about the same. ==Volumes==