Photographic Album of Egypt and Burma, c. 1898 – With Albumen Prints of the Nile, Pyramids, Rangoon Colonial Architecture and Burmese Rural Life.
Photographic Album of Egypt and Burma, c. 1898 – With Albumen Prints of the Nile, Pyramids, Rangoon Colonial Architecture and Burmese Rural Life.
Attractive late-Victorian travel album inscribed "F. M. Thompson from her affectionate brother, Edgar, 1898." Oblong format (approx. 253 x 320 mm), black leather spine and corners with gilt lining, black cloth boards. Covers with scuffing, bumping, and a damp stain to the lower rear board (also affecting the final blank leaves but not the photographs).
Contains approx. 26 card leaves, most with some age spotting, and a total of 26 mounted albumen prints plus one unmounted.
Highlights include:
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Four large albumen views (approx. 275 x 215 mm / 11 x 8.5 inches) of passenger ships and feluccas on the Nile
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One large dramatic Sphinx and Pyramid view, with an Egyptian standing on the head of the Sphinx
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Two large mounted photographs of colonial Rangoon architecture, including the Secretariat Building and the Chief Court or Government House – scarce early architectural views
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A striking Burmese rural scene with ox-cart and two men standing beside the river
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Eight smaller prints of Egyptian travel scenes, some showing European travellers
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One loose large print of a European party boating on a river or lake, with native attendants in the background – likely taken in Burma
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Four smaller loose prints depicting the male travellers by the river and camping outdoors (three are duplicates of album prints, the fourth also appears Burmese)
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Four additional photographs – three portraits and one domestic interior – presumably related to the travellers
Photographs are in generally good condition with some fading and minor handling wear. The loose boating print shows staining and creasing to edges.
An unusual and attractive album, combining Nile and Pyramid views with rare Burmese architectural and rural images, offering a vivid record of late-Victorian travel and colonial life.
Approximate album dimensions: 253 mm high x 320 mm wide x 30 mm deep.
Approximate weight: 1.4 kg.