Gordon H. Luce - Old Burma. Early Pagán - 1969-1970

Complete in three volumes: Bound in red buckram, with crisp gilt-stamped lettering to the front boards and to the spine.
Vol. I Text: Color frontis., glossy paper color map. folding table, xviii & 422 pp.
Vol. II: Catalogue: B&W frontis. 337 pp. With 5 inserts at the rear pastedown, as called for. Includes 3 folding maps, a list of the kings of Pagán, and a calendar.
Vol. III Plates: Color frontis., 455 B&W plates. Corrigenda sheet slipped in.
1st Edition. Fine copy. In English. Published in 1969 [Vol. I] and 1970 [Vols. II & III] for Artibus Asiae and the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

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"An homage to the founding of the Burmese city of Pagán, in the dry zone of central Burma: how it became the Buddhist capital of a united Burma, including Mons and Burmans, from about 1060 A.D.; and how after a century of building national character as well as pagodas, a sudden crisis after the Singhalese invasion led to a weakening of the union, but also the efflorescence of a strictly Burmese culture in the latter half of the dynasty." Divided into three parts: A, History. B, Iconography. C, Architecture. Gordon H. Luce, [1889-1979], was a preeminent scholar of Burmese history, and his magnum opus is Old Burma - Early Pagán. Luce was a member of the Bloomsbury group of scholars and writers: friends from Cambridge and London included Rupert Brooke, E.M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes, Arthur Waley and others. Apart from history, Luce had wide interests ranging from classical music, poetry, classical and English literature and the translation of the Bible into Asian languages. This book is from the personal library of James and Marilyn Alsdorf, among the most prominent Chicago-based collectors in the second half of the 20th century of significant Asian art.