Mss Eur F112/502a

Imprint: Rangoon: printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Burma. 1900.

Quarto volume, half-leather and black cloth binding measuring 363 x 290 mm, with title stamped in gilt on upper board; pp. 13, followed by 15 platinum prints mounted one to a page on stout card (recto only), with letterpress caption beneath each image. The photographs show glass mosaic decoration on some of the major shrines on the platform of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon, as well as workmen engaged in restoring the mosaicwork on one of the shrines. The accompanying letterpress describes the processes and materials used in glass mosaic work, as well as offering a commentary on the individual photographs. The civil servant Harry Tilly and the professional photographer Philip Klier collaborated on several photographically illustrated works on Burmese handicrafts - others include silverwork and woodcarving - although the volumes were more usually illustrated in photogravure. This example, with original photographs, was possibly a presentation copy produced especially for Lord Curzon and was issued in 1900, a year before the photogravure version (for a copy of which, see pressmark X71).