4to. 288 pp., incl. 404 plates, 33 in colour, 1 map, blue cloth, notes, biblio., index, book plate of Mehdi Mahboubian verso front cover, copy in very good condition, Braziller, New York, 1965.

Synopsis

Contents: General Considerations, I. From the Earliest Civilizations, II. Seleucids, Parthians, Sasanians: Reassertion of Persian Forms, III. Early Islam: New Purposes, IV. the Seljuks: Structure as Beauty, V. The Meaning and Function of Persian Decoration, VI. the Mongols: Destruction and Grandeur, VII. The Timurids: Refinement and Opulence, VIII. The Safavid Culmination, IX. Summary of Forms and Structural Problems; Historical Summary, Map of Persia.