New Distributed Titles Fall 2009 - Oxbow Books

middle eastern studies
98
Pilgrimage to Mecca
by Lady Evelyn Cobbold
Studies in the Islamic Arts of the Book
by Robert Hillenbrand
The studies collected in this volume date mostly from the last fifteen years
and focus primarily on Persian book painting of the 14th to the early 16th
centuries. In this period, Iran dominated the art of book painting in the
Islamic world. They range from the period of Mongol rule to the dawn of the
modern era and the swan song of the classical style of Persian painting under
the early Safavids. Yet other articles focus on the roots of book painting in the
themes and styles developed in painted ceramics, on medieval Qur’anic calligraphy,
on bookbinding and on the remarkably original variations played
on the hitherto hackneyed theme of the figural frontispiece by Arab painters.
Two major leitmotifs are explored: the constantly varying interpretations of
the Shahnama (The Book of Kings) and the tendency of painters to interpret
this familiar text in terms of contemporary politics.
556p, 258 illus, hardback, 9781904597490, $300.00(s), Pindar Press, September 2009.
Studies in the Decorative Arts of the Muslim World
by Ernst J Grube
Although Ernst Grube has made the study of painting in the Muslim world a
principal concern, he has also dealt with other aspects of Islamic art in some
depth. Over the last three decades he has published a large number of studies
dealing with specific materials: metal-work, stucco decoration, textiles,
and especially pottery. Of the twelve selected articles from these areas of
Professor Grube’s research published in this volume, six are concerned with
pottery, one deals with Ilkhanid stucco work as represented in the mausoleum
of the Shaykh Muhammad ibn Bakran, near Isfahan, and four deal with
the decorative arts of the Timurid period. All articles are offered here with
both additional notes and a considerably enhanced number of illustrations.
518p, 324 illus, hardback, 9780907132790, $500.00(s), Pindar Press, September 2009.
Arabian Publishing – Newly distributed by DBBC!
As the first British woman convert to Islam on record making the pilgrimage to Mecca and visiting
Medina, Lady Evelyn Cobbold (1867–1963) cuts a unique figure in the annals of the Muslim
Hajj. While traveling widely as an adult in the Arab world, she also maintained a conventional
place in society at home, marrying the wealthy John Cobbold in 1891. Deciding to perform the
pilgrimage in 1933, at the age of 66, she stayed in Jeddah while awaiting permission to go to
Mecca, and received visits from various dignitaries, notably the later King Faysal. First published
in 1934, Pilgrimage to Mecca takes the form of a journal interspersed with digressions on the
history and merits of Islam. This new edition includes a substantial biographical introduction by
William Facey and Miranda Taylor (a great-great-niece of Lady Evelyn).
351p, 50 b/w illus, paperback, 9780955889431, $40.00, Arabian Publishing, September 2009.
Also available in hardback (2008), 9780954479282, $50.00.
New in paperback!
Ihlal al-Salam fi Hadhramaut
by 'Abd al-'Aziz bin Ali bin Salah Al-Qu'aiti
This volume describes a crucial episode in Yemeni history, during which tribal feuding was
brought to an end. The Hadhramaut region, by the 1930s under British tutelage as part of
the Eastern Aden Protectorate, comprised a patchwork of tribal groups forming the Qu'aiti
and Kathiri Sultanates, and was riven by tribal rivalries and infighting. In the mid-1930s,
the British in Aden were interested in pacifying the area in order to strengthen it against
outside claims. Taking advantage of the desire among local leaders to establish political
stability, they appointed Harold Ingrams as Resident Adviser. Focusing on the enlightened
peacemaking efforts of local leaders, supported by the tireless efforts of a representative
of an outside power, the author aims to show that the remorseless cycle of revenge need
not be as unstoppable as it may seem to those caught up in it. The book includes 40 photographs
and 170 historic documents, reproduced here for the first time. Arabic text.
432p, 40 b/w photos, hardback, 9780955889417, $100.00, Arabian Publishing, September 2009.
From Holy War to Reconciliation
Mamluk-Mongol Relations 1260–1335
by Reuven Amitai
The relations between the Mamluk Sultanate of Syria and Egypt and the Ilkhanate, the
Mongol state in Iran and the surrounding countries, were of a military, political-diplomatic,
social or cultural nature, and they had a profound impact not only on these states
themselves but also on neighboring countries and beyond. The present volume is based
on four lectures given at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. It first provides an
overview of the military struggle between these two regional powers, continues with a
detailed discussion of the ideological posturing and sparring between them, and finally
reviews and compares how the Mamluks and Mongols presented themselves to the local,
mainly Muslim, populations.
279p, 4 col & 52 b/w illus, hardback, 9782503531526, $87.00, Brepols Publishers,
December 2009, Miroir de l’Orient Musulman.
The David Brown Book Company – Fall 2009