Medieval Nepal

This book is Part 2 of an important four volume publication on the history of Nepal. The set was formerly in the private library of Dr. Mary Shepherd Slusser. This volume and one other in the set are in need of conservation treatment.

Mary Shepherd Slusser (1918–2017) began as a Freer | Sackler Research Associate in 1989. Her book on the history of the art and culture of Nepal, Nepal Mandala (Princeton University Press, c1982), remains one of the most widely consulted scholarly publications on an important but still somewhat neglected area of study. More recently, her knowledge of Nepalese architecture played a crucial role in the international community’s scramble to collect information for the rebuilding of Kathmandu temples following the destruction caused by the earthquake disaster in April 2015.

Before her death in 2017, Mary decided to donate her Nepalese art books to the Freer | Sackler Library. These books have been added to the Library’s collection, joining others that she donated over the years beginning in 1987. They also share the shelves with the donated books of her sister, Dorothy Shepherd Payer (1916-1992), a curator of textiles and Ancient Near Eastern art at the Cleveland Museum of Art.