PE - Felt Tent Types and Pavilions - tguptill]

[Mira (Tanya Guptill)]

Merhaba and salaam, noble friends, from Mira! :)

Sorry about the cross posting, but I've gotten a fair amount of email from people
interested in buying the new book, FELT TENT TYPES AND PAVILIONS.  It doesn't sound like
we will have enough people buying to get a group discount, so if you are interested, you
may want to contact the distributor directly.  The American distributor,Paul Kreiss at
enquiries at rugbookshop.com wrote:

> The Rug Book Shop, 2603 Talbot Rd., Baltimore MD 21216
>
> We should be getting our order in 14 to 21 days; price is going to be $150.  And
> following this is a PR release from the publisher:
>
> Paul Kreiss for the Rug Book Shop
> __________________________
> FELT TENTS AND PAVILIONS
>
>                  The Nomadic Tradition and its Interaction with Princely Tentage
>
>                               Peter Alford Andrews
>
>                       Kölner Ethnologische Mitteilungen: Sonderband
>
>                        eds. Ulla Johansen and Thomas Schweizer
>
> This is the first historical study of the Central Asian felt tent based on indigenous
> texts and visual records: the sources, from the eighth century to the
> eighteenth, are interpreted through the experience gained in the author’s extensive
> fieldwork. The author shows how the dwelling, at the centre of nomadic
> life, is much more than a physical structure, carrying a complex of associations with
> social practice, use of space, images and symbolism, which by defining it
> have helped to perpetuate the type. Analysis of the variants reveals a remarkable
> congruence of design, which allows a common origin to be traced.
>
> New nomadic dynasties tended to adopt the more urban tradition of tentage familiar to
> their sedentary subjects. This served not only for military purposes, but
> had, since the Achaemenids, been used as an expression of power and prestige in terms
> of great size and height, rich materials, and novelty of form. Different as
> these criteria were from the more practically based nomad traditions, they drew on a
> common symbolic basis which facilitated the exchange, the more so as gifts
> of tentage were important expressions of respect. Typically, urban criteria came to
> supplant nomadic values and types. Similar developments occurred in the
> organisation of the camps so necessary for the administration of large territories.
>
> These developments are traced in records from the early Turkish, Khitan, Mongol,
> Timurid, and Moghul periods, which are particularly rich in material.
> Primary sources in Turkish, Mongolian, Persian and Arabic are augmented with European
> descriptions of the same period. For the earliest stages of steppe
> nomadism, classical texts and Chinese accounts are used. Dr Andrews supplements his
> descriptive texts and visual sources with a minute investigation of the
> tent vocabularies, to arrive at a marriage of word, thing and idea. The publication is
> funded by the J. Paul Getty Trust. It should appeal not only to those
> studying Central Asian and Middle Eastern history, but to architects, ethnologists,
> art historians, and textile specialists.’
>
> Opinions on this work before publication:
>
> ‘Its scholarship is outstanding 
 monumental in its wealth of detail and its dogged
> mining of all possible sources.’ An independent reviewer for
> publication.
>
> ‘Nothing short of magisterial 
 a triumphant conclusion. His work on Islamic sources
> is marked by the utmost care and precision, and his reading—as the
> text testifies abundantly—has been prodigious and omnivorous.’
>
> Prof R Hillenbrand, University of Edinburgh
>
> ‘An outstanding work of scholarship, of permanent value and wide interest. There is no
> other work like it, either in comprehensiveness of coverage,
> originality or scholarly detail. It is unlikely ever to be superseded; works on the
> topic that come after will be mere footnotes to Dr Andrew’s study.’
>
> Prof R L Tapper, SOAS., University of London
>
> ‘The author has worked through an enormous amount of material, giving minute attention
> to the slightest facts 
 this study gives information not only on
> construction, but also on economy, customs, emblems of rank and so on in an
> inexhaustible way. It is a pleasure to read this work on what appears to be a
> modest topic, which actually provides us with knowledge on a great variety of life
> over hundreds of years 
 This book has really developed into a kind of
> cultural history. The author has displayed extraordinary intelligence and accuracy in
> the interpretation of old sources and modern facts. In some ideal way, he
> has combined a discourse on word and thing to reflect the reality of life.’
>
> Prof Dr A von Gabain, University of Hamburg
> ____________________

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