1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910816911403321

Autore

Helman-Ważny Agnieszka

Titolo

The archaeology of Tibetan books / / Agnieszka Helman-Ważny

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden, Netherlands : , : Brill, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

90-04-27505-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (329 p.)

Collana

Brill's Tibetan Studies Library, , 1568-6183 ; ; Volume 36

Disciplina

002.0951/5

Soggetti

Books - Tibet Region - History

Books - Conservation and restoration - Tibet Region - History

Bookbinding - Tibet Region - History

Book design - Tibet Region - History

Printing - Tibet Region - History

Papermaking - Tibet Region - History

Manuscripts, Tibetan - History and criticism

Archaeology and history - Tibet Region

Arts, Tibetan - History

Tibet Region Antiquities

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preliminary Material -- 1 Introduction / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- 2 Methods: An Uneasy Alliance of Science and History / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- 3 Tibetan Books: A Craft and Artistry / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- 4 Indigo, Gold, and Human Blood: Tibetan Illuminated Manuscripts / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- 5 Tibetan Woodblock Printing Culture / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- 6 A Survey of Tibetan Paper / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- 7 Conservation / Given-Name Helman-Ważny -- Appendix 1 Selected Items from the Tibetan Collections of the British Library -- Appendix 2 Features of Paper in Selected Sets of Tibetan Kanjur -- Appendix 3 Transcription of the Yongle Covers Inscriptions -- Appendix 4 Selected Items from the Tibetan Collection of the Berlin State Library -- Appendix 5 Selected Items from the Tibetan Collection of the Library of



Congress, Washington dc, the Asian Reading Room -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

In Archaeology of Tibetan Books , Agnieszka Helman-Ważny explores the varieties of artistic expression, materials, and tools that have shaped Tibetan books over the millennia. Digging into the history of the bookmaking craft, the author approaches these ancient texts primarily through the lens of their artistry, while simultaneously showing them as physical objects embedded in pragmatic, economic, and social frameworks. She provides analyses of several significant Tibetan books—which usually carry Buddhist teachings—including a selection of manuscripts from Dunhuang from the 1st millennium C.E., examples of illuminated manuscripts from Western and Central Tibet dating from the 15th century, and fragments of printed Tibetan Kanjurs from as early as 1410. This detailed study of bookmaking sheds new light on the books' philosophical meanings.