The Land of the White Elephant: Sights and scenes in South-Eastern Asia, a personal narrative of travel and adventure in farther India, embracing the

Frank Vincent was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 2, 1848. Having finished his studies in 1875 he started travelling arround the world for fifteen years including explorations of not only South East Asia but also countries like Lapland, Brazil and the Congo Free State. Being a man who combined cultural taste and catholic interests with adventurous and observant capabilities he became an accomplished writer. His travel books covered four continents, ’The Land of the White Elephant’, his first book, is one of the liveliest and most readable accounts of nineteenth century travelling. Only thirteen years before in 1862 Henri Mouhut indroduced the rediscovered Angkor site to the Western world, thus directing a spotlight to the culture of South East Asia. Frank Vincent presented a valuable collection of Indo-Chinese antiquities and art and industrial objects to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and became a New York honorary member of numerous scientific and literature societies in the United States, and abroad. He also received nine decorations from foreign sovereigns and goverments. On June 3, 1909 he married Harriet Stillman. Frank Vincent died in 1916. He published ’The Land of the White Elephant’ 1874; ’Through and Through the Tropics’ 1876; ’Two Months in Burmah’ 1877; ’The Wonderful Ruins of Cambodia’ 1878; ’Norsk, Lapp, Finn’ 1881; ’Around and About South America’ 1888; ’The Republics of South America’ 1889 and ’Actual Africa’ 1895.