This souvenir book is comprised of photographs reproduced as lush, highly crafted photogravures by the firm T. & R. Annan & sons. The photographer is not identified, but it is likely the work of James Craig Annan. The photogravures are obviously retouched resulting in a distinctive ‘hybrid’ appearance between photography and illustration. A beautiful example of photogravure and it’s illustrative potential.

The 1911 Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry in Glasgow was one of the most successful events of its kind, attracting over nine million visits and resulting in profits which were used to endow a chair in Scottish History in the University of Glasgow. Alongside a popular entertainment section, it included a reconstruction of a Highland village and a Palace of History which housed thousands of items borrowed from public and private collections throughout Scotland. The topics selected for the Exhibition are shown to relate to the political concerns of its organizers, a group of Conservatives who hoped to demonstrate that the importance of Scottish history lay in establishing Scotland as an equal partner with England in the development of a Protestant British Empire.

A special edition issued by the Executive of the Scottish National Exhibition of History, Art and Industry, 1911 for private complimentary circulation.