Moscheen und Madrasabauten in Iran 1785 – 1848: Architektur zwischen Rückgriff und Neuerung. Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2006, 1002 p., 202 pls. (Islamic History and Civilization. Studies and Texts, eds. Wadad Kadi and Rotraud Wielandt, vol. 62)

Although shaping the traditional quarters of Iranian cities, Qajar architecture has largely been neglected by art historians, so far. Ritter’s research is a promising start to establish 19th century architecture within the framework of the art history of Iran, as this has already been achieved in respect to Qajar painting. The first half of the volume is dedicated to the analysis of several types of mosque and madrasa buildings belonging to the early Qajar period. The second part contains the..

Perspectives on Persian Painting. Illustrations to Amir Khusrau’s Khamsa. London - New York, Routledge Curzon, 2003, XXVII+324 p.

Dealing with one of the most frequently illustrated Persian works Brend presents some thirty-three manuscripts mainly produced during the 15th century, and analyses the different ways the manuscripts were provided with miniatures. In the introduction she records life and time of Amīr Ḫusraw. This is followed, in the first chapter, by summaries of the five poems constituting his Ḫamsa and emphasising illustrated episodes. Chapters 2 – 7 are dedicated to the analysis of “Manuscripts of western ..

The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2002, XIV+322 p., 279 illustrations, mostly in colour.

While the title of this catalogue may imply that art and culture of greater Iran under the Ilkhanids is portrayed as a predominantly Mongol achievement the subject of the exhibition is, in fact, artistic exchange: exchange in all directions “as by-product of the Mongol conquest of Asia”. Focussing on westward artistic influence, the preceding and the simultaneous Persian and Central Asian influences on East Asian art are also dealt with, and parallel artistic developments in another area unde..

Islamische Handschriften II, Teil 2: Die Handschriften in türkischer Sprache. Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008, Textband: 316 p., Tafelband: 10 colour pls., 370 b/w figs. (Die illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Band 5, Teil 2)

The two-volume publication on the illuminated and illustrated Turkish manuscripts completes the series on artistically important Islamic manuscripts in the Austrian National Library that had started with the manuscripts in Persian language (1983) and continued in 1992 with the Arabic manuscripts. It presents 129 items including all the illustrated, and a selection of the ornamentally decorated Turkish manuscripts. Without exception, the illustrated manuscripts originate from Ottoman lands bet..

For the Privileged Few: Islamic Miniature Painting from the David Collection. Copenhagen, Lousiana Museum of Modern Art, The David Collection, 2007, 236 p.

This Book (also published in Danish) documents an exhibition of 132 miniature paintings from the David Collection presented in Copenhagen in 2007. At that time, the David Collection owned 19 illustrated manuscripts and 447 dispersed or single sheet paintings and drawings, with additional material on loan from other Danish institutions. These numbers include the recent acquisition of the Benkaim Collection that made miniatures the most important section of the David Collection. Written for an ..

Enzyklopädie als Spiegel des Weltbildes (Diskurse der Arabistik 4). Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2002, 398 p.

The book deals with the 13th century encyclopaedia of natural history ⁽Ajā’ib al-maḫlūqāt wa ġarā’ib al-mawjūdāt by Zakariyā’ al-Qazwīnī. The analysis intends to define the place of Qazwīnī’s work and the concept of the created world it presents within the framework of the intellectual history of Muslim culture (p. 15). This is done, first, by trying to establish a biography of Qazwīnī, including his birth date (1202), mainly based upon material found in works by Ibn Fuwatī and in Qazwīnī’s ..

Islamische Handschriften, 5: Thüringen (Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland 37, 5). Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, XLVII+358 p.

This volume of the catalogue of Oriental manuscripts in Germany presents the Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts of three collections in Thuringia. It includes the libraries in Jena (Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek), Weimar (Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek) and the part of the collection in Gotha (Landes- und Forschungsbibliothek Erfurt/Gotha) that entered the library after the publication of its catalogue by W. Pertsch in 1859-92. The new catalogue describes 155 manuscripts:..

Persian Manuscripts in the Libraries of the McGill University. Brief Union Catalogue. Montreal, McGill University Libraries, 2005, XX + 210 p. (Fontanus Monograph Series XVII)

Following the union catalogue of the Arabic manuscripts at the McGill University Libraries, Gacek now presents its Persian counterpart. It contains short entries arranged alphabetically by title on 334 volumes preserved in four different collections. Since the manuscripts have largely remained unknown, scholars will much appreciate the publication. The book also comprises 10 useful indices, including one listing the texts according to main subjects, and 45 illustrations, 17 of them in colour...

Islamische Kunst in Deutschland. Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2004, X+196 p., 139 colour and 11 b&w illustrations.

As an introduction to – mainly public – collections of Islamic art in Germany this book is very welcome. It opens with general remarks about the awakening of interest in Islamic art in Germany, the emergence of collections and the development of research and teaching in this field. Following, more than 60 entries present not only collections, including libraries, of different character and varied importance but also teaching institutions and societies. Apart from the better known collections,..