Mandalay and Other Cities of the Past in Burma
London, Hutchinson & Co., 1907.
Large octavo, xx, 436 pages with '235 illustrations from photographs [plus] 8 coloured plates after paintings by Mr. J.R. Middleton and Saya Chone' and 7 maps and plans (5 folding).
Gilt-decorated cloth, top edge gilt; cloth lightly marked and flecked, and a little rubbed and bumped at the extremities, with a tiny cut to the board near the foot of the front joint (impacting very slightly on the bottom edge of the first 16 leaves); leading edge slightly foxed; leading edges of two consecutive leaves (pages 9-12) were uncut and unopened, but have been carelessly opened, resulting in some chips and short tears to both leading margins; notwithstanding, an excellent copy.
Many countries 'contain more than one city or ruin which at some time filled the place of a capital. But in Burma these past capitals are unusually numerous. Their number is partly to be ascribed to the internal conflicts which left, now one of its three leading races triumphant, now another. The Burmese, the Mon, and the Shan fought for supremacy for two thousand years, and the history of Burma is but the record of their conflicts, punctuated by invasion from without' (the preface).
Item #111807
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