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WILLIAM SIMPSON's first visit to India, lasted almost three years, from 1859 to 1862, and he sketched prolifically the architecture, archaeology, and daily life of the people, from the southern plains to Nepal and Tibet. Unfortunately, during his absence from Britain Day & Sons failed, and Simpson's watercolours of India eventually became part of their liquidated stock. A small book, India, Ancient and Modern, was later produced, but was of poor quality. Unfortunately Simpson had funded his own travels and he was left almost destitute on his return to London.
Nevertheless, Simpson's writings on a range of learned topics about the sub-continent earned him a reputation as an Indian expert. He wrote a paper entitled "Architecture in the Himalayas" for the Royal Institute of British Architects; a trip to the holy source of the Ganges, the "Cows Mouth", was described in a paper presented to the Alpine Club; a piece entitled "Pujahs in the Sutlej Valley, Himalayas" appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society; and a treatise on Indian jewellery appeared in The Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith. His interest in Eastern mysticism was also thoroughly nurtured, resulting years later in a book, The Buddhist Praying Wheel. The V&A is the world’s greatest museum of design and the arts: its collections cover two thousand years up to the present, in virtually every medium and from Britain, Europe and Asia.