Ceylon through the Stereoscope. by [Photographs. Stereoscopic views] - 1901-1903

New York: Underwood & Underwood, 1901-1903. Thirty stereographic photographs, original card mounts, 9 x 18 cm, with printed captions in English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, and Russian. In original book-form cloth box, gilt title on spine, in fine condition. Cards fine, curved as issued. A fine set of stereographs of Ceylon, showing tame and wild elephants, the method of their capture, the tea industry, including picking, sorting, the bungalow on Sir Thomas Lipton's Estate, and the Talawakele estate. There are several views of Kandy, including the lake, and a startling view of Lady De Soysa's "Hall of Tusks" in her mansion at Bambalapitiya. The use of curved card mounts to accentuate the three-dimensional view began in 1879, and swiftly became the standard format. We locate a single set of these views with 29 stereographs at New York University.