archaeology

This magnificently illustrated book describes and depicts images of paleo art from the inception of the field, in the 1830s, to the modern era. Paleoart, unique in its literary field, includes beautifully reproduced paintings, drawings, tile mosaics, etc. from collections around the world. Each example represents a mixture of science and fantasy as artists have attempted to visualize extinct life in its long-ago environment. Some art used in this volume was taken from the archives and collection of the Smithsonian’s Paleobiology collection. 

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, has an important collection of Greco-Bactrian and Bactrian gold and silver vessels, many of which were likely in the Siberian collection of Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725). In 1940, Kamilla Trever (1892-1974), a curator at the Hermitage and a Russian historian specializing in the history and culture of Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and Iran, published this important but obscure Russian-language work on the collection.

This English translation of Jane Dieulafoy’s account of her travels to Susa in Persia (modern-day Iran) describes in detail the many villages she saw and the artifacts she and her husband, Marcel Dieulafoy, collected. One of the famous artifacts sent to France from Susa is the Frise des Lions, which is currently at the Museé du Louvre. The French government awarded Dieulafoy the Legion of Honor for her explorations in the Susa region and her subsequent artifact contributions.

This gilded and richly illustrated volume describes the 19th-century travels of explorer Jane Dieulafoy. Dieulafoy documented her explorations through what is now Iraq and Iran. Dieulafoy uses the expressive language of her time to describe the weather, people, cultures, and treasures she encountered. The volume includes many illustrations of the villages, ports, and bazaars she visited. The illustrations are prints from wood engravings based on the author’s photographs.

This book was written by Egyptologist Henri Brugsch in 1855. It was the first European attempt to study Demotic—the written and spoken language of the ancient Egyptian people. Brugsch’s project was recognized and supported by Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. He sponsored Brugsch’s visits to various European museums to view objects and monuments containing the Demotic language, in order to complete his knowledge of the subject. Brugsch then documented what he had learned in Grammaire Démotique. The book examines this dialect's grammar, syntax, and phonetics.