Photo 888

Red full-leather bound album with padded covers, measuring 282x239mm, with title as above stamped in gold on front and marbled endpapers. The uncaptioned prints are mounted one to a page and several of the page mounts have a British Museum wet stamp. The album contains views of stands at the exhibition, and can be roughly broken down as follows:

Prints 1-35 Craftsmen from India and Ceylon seen in their workshops or shops.

Prints 36-40 Elephant and camel riding stands.

Prints 41-56 Entertainers and yogis: dancers, actors, jugglers, strong men, etc.

Prints 57-79 Groups of Indian, Burmese and Ceylonese types.

Prints 80-88 Views of stands, backdrop, models of Indian buildings, etc.

The India and Ceylon Exhibition of 1896 was organized by Imre Kiralfy at Earl's Court and appears to have used many of the same facilities of his Empire of India Exhibition of the previous year (see map in the catalogue of that exhibition: IOL pressmark T.10283). Kiralfy, an entrepreneur of Hungarian extraction who became the foremost organiser of exhibitions (particularly those relating to imperial themes) in the 1890s and early 20th century, appears in prints 74-76 of this album. For an account of his career, see Paul Greenhalgh, Ephemeral vistas (Manchester University Press, 1988), particularly pp. 90-95.

Process = Silver printing-out papers