Description:
Editor?s note:
Present in 1878 and early 1879 and then returning again to Mandalay in 1885 with
British forces, James Alfred Colbeck, mission priest for the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel and latterly military chaplain, provides a unique look at the beginning and end
of Thibaw?s reign (1878-1885). The letters included were originally selected and edited
by George H. Colbeck, mission priest at Mandalay and were published under the title of
Letters from Mandalay, A Series of Letters For the Most Part Written From the Royal City
of Mandalay During the Troublous Years of 1878-79; Together with Letters Written
During the Last Burmese Campaign of 1885-88 (Knavesborough: Alfred W. Lowe, 1892).
The natural division and balance of the letters included warrants their division into two
separate groupings, with the 1878-1879 letters included here and the 1885-1888 letters
included in the forthcoming issue of SBBR. According to George H. Colbeck, the senior
Colbeck died four days after his correspondence of 27th February 1888, the last letter in
the published collection. Unfortunately, the original editor included few details on the
circumstances of the correspondence, with some exceptions, beyond date and general
point of origin (in most cases Mandalay). We are not told, for example, to whom the
letters were written. Aside from these limitations, however, these letters offer valuable
information not available in other source materials on Mandalay during the Kon-baung
dynasty?s last, and arguably most troubled reign.
Source/publisher:
SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, Autumn 2003
Date of Publication:
1878-07-16
Date of entry:
2010-11-15
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English