B W Robinson – författare

The Shahnama, written in the tenth century by Firdawsi, is the national epic poem of Persia. It chronicles at great length (nine volumes in the full English translation, currently out of print) the reigns and deeds of the earliest Persian kings, over fifty of them, in four dynasties - the Pishdadians, Kayanians, Ashkanians, and Sasanians. This book, illustrated with early Persian paintings which depict the deeds described, presents in easily accessible language a summary and re-telling of the Shahnama. It covers the entire epic in one volume, includes an introduction, together with lists of kings and dynasties, and thereby provides a concise overview of, and introduction to, this key work.

The Shahnama, written in the tenth century by Firdawsi, is the national epic poem of Persia. It chronicles at great length (nine volumes in the full English translation, currently out of print) the reigns and deeds of the earliest Persian kings, over fifty of them, in four dynasties - the Pishdadians, Kayanians, Ashkanians, and Sasanians. This book, illustrated with early Persian paintings which depict the deeds described, presents in easily accessible language a summary and re-telling of the Shahnama. It covers the entire epic in one volume, includes an introduction, together with lists of kings and dynasties, and thereby provides a concise overview of, and introduction to, this key work.

Over the last forty years, Basil Robinson has established a reputation as a leading authority on the art of Persia. His work on Persian manuscript illumination represents one of the most important contributions made in this century to the study of the development of this pivotal branch of Islamic art, which absorbed the influence of Arab and Chinese painting, and influenced in turn the miniature painting of Mughal India. This first volume concentrates on Persian painting. Seven papers examine the general evolution of painting in Persia from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries, "mostly preserved in manuscript illumination, with emphasis on that most characteristic of Persian manuscripts, "the Shah-Nameh, the national epic. Particular attention is paid to the Timurid period and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Four reviews of exhibitions of Persian art follow. Thirteen studies are devoted to a later period, the school of painting that arose under the Qajar rulers, when Persian art flourished in such new and diverse media as oil painting and painted enamels. Vol I Contents: Preface A Survey of Persian Painting 1350-1896 Persian Painting and the National Epic Persian Miniatures and Manuscripts Persian Miniatures of the 16th and 17th Centuries Shah Abbas and the Mughal Ambassador Khan Alam: the Pictorial Record Areas of Controversy in Islamic Painting Book Illustration in Transoxiana: the Timurid Period Some Modern Persian Miniatures Persian Miniatures at the British Museum Persian Painting: A Loan Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum Persian Miniature Painting from Collections in the British Isles Qajar Art: An Introduction The Court Painters of Fath Ali Shah The Amery Collection of Persian Oil Paintings Persian Royal Portraiture and the Qajars Some Thoughts on Qajar Lacquer Qajar Lacquer Persian Lacquer in the Bern Historical Museum Persian Lacquer and the Bern Historical Museum Casket A Pair of Royal Book-Covers A Lacquer Mirror Case of 1854 Qajar Painted Enamels A Royal Qajar Enamel The Tehran Nizami of 1848 and other Qajar Illustrated Books Inde.

This second volume of Basil Robinson's Studies concentrates on Persian manuscript illumination, beginning with six studies of artists who worked in this medium. There then follows twenty-two studies of individual manuscripts, from the fourteenth century onwards.