Kathmandu, May 5 -- Ulrich von Schroeder first came to Nepal as a student of architecture in the summer of 1965 aged 22, backpacking overland from Switzerland. While other young westerners hung around Freak Street in those days, he would rent a bike and pedal around the Valley, systematically taking pictures ofstone sculptures.

Von Schroeder's lifelong labour of love has now been published in two bulky volumes titledNepalese Stone Sculptures that is an encyclopaedia with nearly 3,000 illustrations, and 15,000 digital photographs of stone sculptures on an SD card embedded into the inside back cover.

"This is unrestricted love for Nepal, my gift to the country," says von Schroeder at theMuseum of Nepali Art,which invited him to Kathmandu ...