Year Course Reading List Arts of Asia:1500–1900 Islamic Middle East, South Asia and China
This is a brief list of general books which cover the whole course. Books that relate specifically to the themes of the lectures will be provided each week. Not all these titles are in print, but are obtainable from good libraries.
Islamic Middle East Introductory Bibliography
Sheila S. Blair, Jonathan M. Bloom, The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 (New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1995), chapters 12-17.
Markus Hattstein, Peter Delius, Islam: Art and Architecture (Köln: Könneman, 2000)
Tim Stanley (with Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stephen Vernoit), Palace and Mosque. Islamic Art from the Middle East
(V&A Publications: London, 2004)
Exhibition Catalogues Sheila Canby, Jon Thompson (eds.), Hunt for paradise: Court Arts of Safavid Iran, 1501-1576 (Milan: Skira, London:
Thames & Hudson, 2003)
Stefano Carboni (ed.), Venice and the Islamic World, 828-1797 (New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2007)
Jay A. Levenson, Circa 1492: Art in the Age of Exploration (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1991)
David Roxburgh (ed.), Turks. A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600 (Royal Academy of Arts: London, 2005)
Issues of Scholarship Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing: the Orientalists and their Enemies (London: Allen Lane, 2006)
Edward Said, Orientalism (London: Routledge, 1978)
Stephen Vernoit (ed.), Discovering Islamic Art. Scholars, Collectors and Collections, 1850-1950 (London: I.B. Tauris,
2000)
Historical Novels Orhan Pamuk, My Name Is Red
Jason Goodwin, The Janissary Tree
South Asia Alfieri, B. M. (2000) Islamic Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, Laurence King: London
Archer, M. & R. Lightbrown (1982) India Observed: India as Viewed by British Artists, 1760-1860, V&A Publications:
London
Baker, M. & B. Richardson, eds. (1997) A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A Publications:
London
Barrett, D. & B. Gray (1963) Painting of India, Editions d 'Art: Albert Skira
Basham, A. L. (1967) The Wonder That Was India, London
Bernier, F. (1934) Travels in the Moghul Empire, AD 1656-1688, 3rd edition, London
Brown, P. (1942) Indian Architecture, 2 vols., Bombay
Coleman, S. & J. Elsner (1995) Pilgrimage Past and Present: Sacred Travel and Sacred Space in the World Religions,
British Museum Press: London
Davies, P. (1989) The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India: Islamic, Rajput, European, vol. II, Viking: London
Falconer, J. et al. (1990) The Raj: India and the British 1600-1947, National Portrait Gallery: London
Fass, V., ed. (1986) The Forts of India, Collins: London
Fergusson, J. (1876) History of Indian and Eastern Architecture 2 vols., 1998 reprint, Manoharlal Publishers: Delhi
Foster, W. (1931) British Artists in India, 1760-1820, London
Gray, B., ed. (1981) The Arts of India, Phaidon: Oxford
Gupta, H. R. (1991) History of the Sikhs, New Delhi
Guy, J. & D. Swallow, eds. (1990 and subsequent editions) Arts of India, 1550-1900, V&A Publications: London
Harle, J. C. (1986) The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, Penguin Books: London
Havell, E. B. (1920) A Handbook of India Art, John Murray: London
Jackson, A. & A. Jaffer (2004) Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800, V&A Publications: London
Jaffer, A. (2001) Furniture from British India & Ceylon, V&A Publications: London
Kang, K. S. (1988) Punjab Arts & Culture, Delhi
Koch, E. (1991) Mughal Architecture: An Outline of its History, Prestal Verlag: Munich
Llewellyn-Jones, R. (2003) Lucknow: Then and Now, Marg: Bombay
Losty, J. P. (1986) Indian Book Painting, British Library Publications: London
Metcalf, T. R. (1989) An Imperial Vision, University of California Press
Metcalf, T. R. (2005) Forging the Raj: Essays on British India in the Heydey of Empire, Oxford University Press Michell, G. (1990) The Penguin Guide to the Monuments of India: Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, vol. i, Penguin Books: London
Michell, G. (1994) The Royal Palaces of India, Thames & Hudson: London
Moynihan, E. B. (1979) Paradise as a Garden: In Persia and Mughal India, London
Nigosian, S. A. (1994) World Faiths, 2nd edition, St Martin's Press: New York
Oaten, E. A. (1991) European Travellers in India during the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries, Asian Educational: New Delhi
Pal, P. (1986) From Merchants to Emperors: British Artists in India, 1757-1930, Ithaca: London
Roy, S. (1961) The Story of Indian Archaeology 1784-1947, Government of India: New Delhi
Sachdev, V. & G. H. R. Tillotson (2002) Jaipur: The Making of an Indian City, Reaktion: London
Saraswati, S. K. (1960) The History and Culture of the Indian People, Bombay
Snell, R., ed. (1986) Aspects of the Culture of South Asia, School of Oriental and African Studies: London
Stronge, S. (1985) Bidri Ware: Inlaid Metalwork from India, V&A Publications: London
Stronge, S. (2002) Painting for the Mughal Emperor: the Art of the Book, 1560-1660, V&A Publications: London
Stronge, S., ed. (1999) Arts of the Sikh Kingdom, V&A Publications: London
Tadgell, C. (1990) The History of Architecture in India: From the Dawn of Civilisation to the End of the Raj, Phaidon:
London
Thapar, R. & P. Spear (1978) A History of India, 2 vols., revised edition, Harmondsworth
Tillotson, G. H. R. (1987) The Rajput Palaces: The Development of an Architectural Style, 1450-1750, Yale University
Press: New Haven & London
Tillotson, G. H. R. (2000) The Artificial Empire: The Indian Landscapes of William Hodges, Curzon: Richmond
Walker, D. (1997) Flowers Underfoot, Metropolitan Museum of Art: New York
Watson, F. (1974 and later editions) A Concise History: India, Thames & Hudson: London
Welch, S. C. (1993) India: Art and Culture 1300-1900 , Prestel: Mapin
Wheeler, M., ed. (1965) Splendours of the East: Tombs, Palaces and Fortresses of Asia, Thames & Hudson, London
Wolseley-Haig, C., ed. (1928) The Cambridge History of India, Cambridge University Press
Zebrowski, M. (1983) Deccani Painting, Sotheby's: London
Zebrowski, M. & G. Michell (1999) Art & Architecture of the Deccani Sultanates (New Cambridge History of India),
Cambridge University Press
Archer, W. G. (1973) Indian Painting from the Punjab Hills, 2 vols., Sotheby Parke Bernet: London
Brand, M. & G. Lowry (1985) Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory, Asia Society Galleries: New York
Brown, P. (reprint 1975) Indian Painting under the Mughals, Hacker Art Books: New York Coomaraswamy, A. K. (1930) Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, vol. vi, Museum of Fine Arts: Boston
Elgood, R., ed. (1979) Islamic Arts and Armour, Scolar Press: London
Ettinghausen, R. (1961) Paintings of the Sultans and Emperors of India, New Delhi www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/svadesh - Svadesh Vadesh Collection from the British Library's India Office
Collection - 15,000 from Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections available online.
China Birrell, Anne, Chinese Mythology: An Introduction Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1993. ISBN.
0-8018-4595-5
Chen, Kenneth K.S, Buddhism in China, a Historical Survey. Princeton University Press, Princeton, l972. ISBN. 0-691
00015 8
Cheng, Manchao, The Origin of Chinese Deities Foreign Language Press, Beijing, 1995. ISBN. 7-119-00030-6
Clunas, Craig, Art in China. Oxford History of Art, 1997. ISBN. 9780192 842077
Clunas, Craig, Fruitful Site: Garden Culture in Ming China. Reaktion Books, 1996. SBN. 0 948462 88 4
Eberhard, Wolfram, A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986. ISBN. 0-7102-0191-5
Ebrey, P, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN. 0-521-43519-6
Fong, Wen C. (ed), Possessing the Past. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, & the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, 1996. Exhibition of Treasures from the old imperial collection, with informative essays. ISBN. 0-87099-765-3
Hommel, Rudolf, China at Work. M.I.T. Press Cambridge, Mass., reprint 1979. The author lived in China during the
1920s and recorded traditional craft technology. ISBN. 262-08035-4
Hucker, Charles, China's Imperial Past. Duckworth, London, 1980. The best one-volume history of traditional China.
Kerr, Rose (ed), Chinese Art and Design - the T.T. Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art. V&A, London, 1991. ISBN. 1-85177-017 8
Little, Stephen (ed), Taoism and the Arts of China. Art Institute of Chicago, 2000. ISBN. 0-520-22785-9
Loewe, M & Shaughnessy, E, The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge, 1999. ISBN. 0 521 47030 7
Needham, Joseph, Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press/OUP, 1954. Series of volumes on all aspects of Chinese science and technology starting in 1954. ISBN. 0 521 05799 X
Rawson, Jessica (ed), The British Museum Book of Chinese Art. London, 1992.
Rawson, Jessica, Mysteries of Ancient China. British Museum Publishing, 1996. New discoveries from the early dynasties. ISBN. 0 7141 1472 3 Sickman, Laurence & Soper, Alexander, The Art and Architecture of China. Penguin Books, London, 1971. Good on architecture but ignores all art forms except painting and sculpture.
Spence, Jonathan, The Search for Modern China. Hutchinson, London, 1990. ISBN. 0 09 174472 5
Watson, William, The Genius of China. An Exhibition of Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China. The
Royal Academy, London, 1973
Whitfield, Susan (ed), The Silk Road: Trade, travel, war and faith. The British Library, London, 2004. ISBN. 0-7123-4854-9
Zou, Zongxu, The Land Within the Passes: A History of Xian. Viking, Penguin Group, 1991 Lavishly illustrated guide to one of China's most important areas historically. ISBN. 0-670-82391-0
Zwalf, W. (ed) Buddhism, Art and Faith. British Museum Publications, 1985. ISBN. 0 7141 1432 4