culture

The first edition of this book was published five months before the writer, Lafcadio Hearn’s, death in September 1904. Kwaidan was part of a group of publications about the culture of Japan that began to appear in the West in the late 19th century. These publications helped to introduce the riches of Japanese aesthetic and artistic heritage to artists and designers in the United States and Europe and fueled public interest in all things Japanese.

Plants of the Gods is a richly illustrated, encyclopedic study of psychoactive, i.e. hallucinogenic, plants. It explores the plants’ science – the characteristics and chemistry – as well as the history, culture, and significance of each. For millennia, societies around the world have valued the beneficial qualities of their native flora, and many have revered those plants recognized to have spiritual and psychic effects. This is fascinating ethnobiology, relating botany to religion, folklore, rituals, and art.

Charles Alphonse Combes (1891-1968), born in Paris, moved to the Côte d’Ivoire in 1925 and never looked back. He began taking art students and in 1937 his studio became the École des Arts Appliques, the first art school in the country. It is now a museum in Abidjan, Musée Charles Alphonse Combes.

Sirarpie Der Nersessian (1896-1989) was an Armenian art historian. Born in Istanbul, she fled in 1915 to escape the persecutions that had erupted against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. She lived for a time in Switzerland, then moved to Paris in 1919, where she obtained a graduate degree at the Sorbonne. By the mid-20th century, she was living in Washington D.C., working as a scholar at Dumbarton Oaks. In 1963, she published a book on the Freer Gallery of Art’s Armenian Gospel manuscript folios.

This exhibition catalog explores the 2010 monumental work Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, created by internationally acclaimed contemporary Chinese artist and social activist Ai Weiwei. The work is a reimagining of a Qing dynasty zodiac water-clock system at the Old Summer Palace near Beijing, which was looted in 1850 during the Second Opium War. Ai reinterpreted the original fountainheads in a gold series and a bronze series, as his first monumental public art installation.

This volume was commissioned by the president of Costa Rica and published in 1902. The Comisión Conmemorativa de Costa Rica en el Siglo XIX worked with various authors to highlight the social history, local customs, and artistic contributions of Costa Rica during the 19th century. The book also covers the history of the Catholic Church in Costa Rica during this period. The goal of this volume was to highlight the many successes of Costa Rica following its independence. The cover depicts a silver angel holding aloft a burning torch inscribed with the Roman numerals XX (20).

John Randolph Spears (b. 1850) was a well-traveled journalist at turn of the century, eventually writing nearly a dozen books, primarily on nautical and maritime themes. This early title is about the land, sea, flora, fauna, and cultures of South America’s southernmost region. The “gold diggings” from the title are mostly done on the east coast of Tierra del Fuego, where, after heavy storms, gold shows up on the black sands. The quest for gold often creates conflicts with indigenous communities of the area, which Spears takes great care to describe with sensitivity (for the times).

Nzima Land was a small, independent state located in the southwest corner of the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Annor Adjaye, a Nzima Paramount Chief, was educated in Britain and understood how the British viewed Ghanaian society. In this book, he attempts to educate British readers about his society and people, and to dispel prejudices and misconceptions. To bridge this cultural divide, Adjaye explains the workings of Nzima government and tribunal judgments, and he shares the wisdom of Fante proverbs.

This early and only edition consists of an illustrated three volume study of Roman vessels drawn and engraved by Italian artist and editor Carlo Antonin (born circa 1740). Volume one features vessels in the Pio-Clementine and Chiaramonti Museum at the Vatican; volume 2 shows items in the Capitoline Museum and the galleries of Rome; and volume 3 has images of other antique “Rome district” vases. This book includes more than 195 full-page images illustrating variant forms and decoration on Roman vases and vessels.

Emperor Kangxi and King Louis XIV of France, also known as Louis the Great, were both considered among the greatest rulers of their respective countries. They have been compared politically and militarily, but few comparisons in artistic achievements have been done. Both rulers came to the throne during childhood. They had excellent skills in riding and archery and both were fluent in a number of languages. As a Manchu emperor, Kangxi had a solid command of Mandarin Chinese and Mongolian whereas Louis XIV was versed in French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin.

Arctic Memories is an overview of Inuit life written for young people. The stories and illustrations are full of beauty and relay so much about life and culture in the Arctic. Author and illustrator Normee Ekoomiak was one of the the most prolific Inuit artists of the 20th century whose life, as a victim of the residential school system and homelessness, shows both the injustices suffered by Canada’s indigenous peoples and their remarkable resilience against that injustice.

The year is 1890. The French public is eager to learn more about the new colonies that France has won in the "Scramble for Africa." Colonel Henri-Nicholas Frey addresses their curiosity by compiling this geography, which describes in vivid detail the people, places, and things on the coastal regions of West Africa, from southern Morocco to the Congo. Frey draws on his own military experience in West Africa, but his primary sources are the writings of explorers, missionaries, and travelers to the region.