Sculpture and Paintings of Ancient Panjikent, Approved and Launched by the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Editor: A.G. Podolsky. Published in Moscow by the USSR Academy of Sciences. 1952, 189pp, 9.5 x 12", 8vo, hardcover binding.
In fair condition with some age-related wear and a large amount of marks from previous use. Minor rubbing and bumping to the extremities. General age-related toning to the pages. The previous owner heavily annotated this text, on the endpapers, introductory pages, and throughout the margins. Additionally his black-inked faculty stamp is on the title page and sparsely throughout the pages. Included in this folio are black and white illustrated vignettes, illustrated plates in color and fold-outs. Please see our photographs and ask any questions prior to purchasing.
A rare 1950s Russian language and illustrated archaeological study of "Panjikent" or Panjakent is a city in the Sughd region of Tajikistan, located in the Zarafshan river valley. The ancient Panjakent was an Iranian civilization that ruled large territories in central Asia more than a thousand years ago, and an important stop for trade on the extensive Silk Road.
This specific book once resided in the prestigious library of language scholar Johannes Rahder (1898-1988). Rahder was a Dutch Orientalist and professor of Japanese at the University of Leiden from 1931 through 1946, and at Yale University from 1947 through 1965. He was depicted in the work of the legendary Langston Hughes' (1901-1967) 'I Wonder, I Wander'. After a brief meeting between the two figures on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1933, Hughes recognized Rahder as being a "...famous authority on obscure Oriental languages". Rahder's black-inked Yale University faculty stamp and pen markings can be found throughout this folio.
FORN-SHELF-0596-BB-0524-eb0721