The Khalili Collection owns one of the most important illustrated medieval manuscripts in the world, the Jami al-Tawarikh, or 'Compendium of Chronicles,' which was written by the 14th century court historian Rashid al-Din. The 59 folios in the Collection are reproduced here in color for the first time after their recent restoration and, together with those in the Edinburgh University Library, form a fragment of the earliest surviving Arabic copy of the work.

A COMPENDIUM OF CHRONICLES: Rashid al-Din's Illustrated History of the World (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, VOL XXVII)

Arts & Photography

Blair, Sheila S.

History & Criticism

For millennia the collection, distribution, and symbolism of water have played pivotal roles in the lands where Islam has flourished. This book is the first to address this important subject.
A diverse spectrum of scholars covers a wide range of topics: from the revelation of Islam in the 7th century to today’s conservation and development issues, from watering oases in the Moroccan desert to the flooded plains of Bengal. Copiously illustrated with beautiful color photographs and newly drawn plans and maps, this book will provoke readers to appreciate and acknowledge the essential, if often invisible and transitory, roles that water played in the arts of the Islamic lands and beyond.

Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art and Culture (The Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art)

Yale University Press

From ancient Germany's "Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel" to James Turrell's 1995 photograph "Roden Crater," chronologically presents one thousand examples of art from different countries, cultures, and civilizations and discusses what makes each piece both unique and representative.

30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space

Becker, Marshall

Branfoot, Crispin

Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick

Phaidon Press

Islamic Inscriptions

Reference

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Edinburgh University

Joint Winner of the 2007 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize for Middle Eastern StudiesWinner of 2008 World Prize for Book of the Year by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic GuidanceSelected as a 2007 CHOICE Outstanding Academic TitleThe extensive use of writing is a hallmark of Islamic civilization. Calligraphy became one of the main methods of artistic expression from the seventh century to the present in almost all regions from the far Maghrib to India and beyond. Arabic script was adopted for other languages from Persian and Turkish to Kanembu and Malay.Islamic Calligraphy explains this art form to modern readers and shows them how to identify, understand and appreciate its varied styles and modes. Designed to offer a standardized terminology for identifying and describing various styles of Islamic calligraphy, it aims to help Westerners appreciate why calligraphy has long been so important in Islamic civilization.This sumptuous, prize-winning book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in Islamic art.

Islamic Calligraphy

Edinburgh University Press

Joint Winner of the 2007 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize for Middle Eastern StudiesWinner of 2008 World Prize for Book of the Year by the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic GuidanceSelected as a 2007 CHOICE Outstanding Academic TitleThe extensive use of writing is a hallmark of Islamic civilization. Calligraphy became one of the main methods of artistic expression from the seventh century to the present in almost all regions from the far Maghrib to India and beyond. Arabic script was adopted for other languages from Persian and Turkish to Kanembu and Malay.Islamic Calligraphy explains this art form to modern readers and shows them how to identify, understand and appreciate its varied styles and modes. Designed to offer a standardized terminology for identifying and describing various styles of Islamic calligraphy, it aims to help Westerners appreciate why calligraphy has long been so important in Islamic civilization.This sumptuous, prize-winning book is an ideal reference for anyone with an interest in Islamic art.

The first object created by God, according to early Muslim commentators, was the pen, which he used to chronicle events to come. The word, in its various manifestations, is central to the Islamic faith. Surely a reflection of this centrality, profuse inscriptions mark countless Islamic objects, from the humblest oil lamps and unglazed ceramics to the finest and most expensive rock crystals and jades. The inscriptions serve numerous functions: decorating, proclaiming ownership and patronage, proffering good wishes and proverbs, and spreading religious texts throughout the world. Aside from their aesthetic worth, these inscriptions provide a fascinating window onto a distant culture. In Islamic Inscriptions, Sheila S. Blair a wealth of stunning images and incisive commentary, while also providing the newcomer to Islamic civilization with a key to unlocking the mysteries of Islamic epigraphy. In addition to chapters devoted to the main types of inscription, detailing the development of their content and style, inscriptive techniques, and the motivations behind them, the book provides practical knowledge on finding, identifying, interpreting, researching, and recording inscriptions. The variety and clarity of information presented makes Islamic Inscriptions an ideal reference for historians, curators, archaeologists, and collectors.

Religious

NYU Press

Greater Iranian arts from the 10th to the 16th century are technically some of the finest produced anywhere. They are also intellectually engaging, showing the lively interaction between the verbal and the visual arts. Focusing on objects found in the main media at the time, Sheila S. Blair shows how artisans played with form, material and decoration to engage their audiences. She also shows how the reception of these objects has changed and that their present context has implications for our understanding of the past.

Text and Image in Medieval Persian Art (Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art)

The Khalili Collection owns what is, without doubt, one of the most important illustrated medieval manuscripts from either East or West. The ]ami' al-Tawarikh or 'Compendium of Chronicles' was written by the 14th-century court historian Rashid al-Din, under the patronage of the Ilkhanids. The 59 folios in the Khalili Collection - reproduced here in colour for the first time after their recent restoration - together with those in the Edinburgh University Library, form a fragment of the earliest surviving Arabic copy of the work. An appendix in this volume reintegrates these folios and reconstructs their original order. The author discusses the identity and techniques of the calligraphers and painters involved, analyses the sources for the illustrations, and reveals the importance of this manuscript in the history of the Persian book. She also traces the manuscript's journey from Rashid al-Din's scriptorium in Tabriz through Timurid Herat, the 19th-century Mughal court and the East India Company, to its acquisition by the Royal Asiatic Society. The volume also includes a translation by W.M. Thackston of the articles of endowment of the Rab'-i Rashidi.

A Compendium of Chronicles: Rashid al-Din's Illustrated History of the World (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art)

Religion & Spirituality

Khalili Collections

With a history spanning some fourteen centuries, Islamic art is one of the world’s great artistic traditions, although it largely eschews such familiar art forms as painting on canvas and monumental sculpture. Cosmophilia is the catalog of an exhibition of 123 examples of the finest examples of Islamic art from the C. L. David Collection in Copenhagen, Denmark shown in 2006 at the McMullen Museum at Boston College and soon to travel to the Smart Museum at the University of Chicago. These beguiling works from Spain, West Africa, China, and Indonesia include ornamental textiles, calligraphy, book-painting, ceramics, and inlaid wood.
An introductory essay by cocurators Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom that explores the nature and meaning of ornament in Islamic art accompanies this lavishly illustrated catalog. In addition to their in-depth discussion of the collection, Blair and Bloom reveal how Islamic artists incorporate figural ornament, written text, geometry, and even vegetation in their designs. The resulting volume will thrill anyone interested in the distinctive beauty of Islamic art.

Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen

Bloom, Jonathan M.

Mcmullen Museum Of Art, Boston College

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blair, Sheila S.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Blair, Sheila S.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blair, Sheila S.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A COMPENDIUM OF CHRONICLES: Rashid al-Din's Illustrated History of the World (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, VOL XXVII)

Rivers of Paradise: Water in Islamic Art and Culture (The Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art)

30,000 Years of Art: The Story of Human Creativity Across Time and Space

Islamic Inscriptions

Islamic Calligraphy

Islamic Calligraphy

Islamic Inscriptions

Text and Image in Medieval Persian Art (Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Art)

A Compendium of Chronicles: Rashid al-Din's Illustrated History of the World (The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art)

Cosmophilia: Islamic Art from the David Collection, Copenhagen