Denkmäler Islamischer Buchkunst.

Limited to 375 numbered copies of the German edition, of which this copy is numbered 15.
“ The present work was planned some years ago and is connected with the official duties of the author of the first part of the book, when in 1918 and 1919 he had to make a thorough examination of the whole of the well known Archduke Rainer collection of Papyri in the National Library, Vienna. On this occasion, a number of pieces among the finds from the Fayyum and al-Ushmunayn came to light, consisting of fragments of miniatures, pen-drawings, sketches, book-ornaments, specimens made from engraved blocks, inlid filigree works and book-bindings, - of great importance for the history of the art of book-making in the Islamic world-, a treasure that called for publication. In this collection all the pieces belonged to the earliest centuries of the Muslim era, and whereas the student of painting had hitherto been unable to find any examples form MSS. earlier than the thirteenth century,specimens could now be made available from the ninth and tenth centuries, which throw light on the development of this branch of art and offer parallels from Egypt to the frescoes of Samarra, reproduced in Professor E. HERZFELD’S admirable publication. Materials of the same kind for the history of Islamic art had also to be sought for in other collections, and some slight, but important, results were obtained by means of similar researches in the Papyrus collection of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, as well as in the Library of the University of Heidelberg and in the Royal Library of Cairo. (PREFACE). OCLC 13055751.