Code: 62803 A

Dutch publisher Brill releases English book on Persian calligraphy, related arts

Dutch publisher Brill releases English book on Persian calligraphy, related arts

An English translation of a book on Persian calligraphy and related arts was published on Thursday by Brill, a major Dutch publisher in Leiden.

Iranart: Written by the celebrated Iranian calligrapher Hamidreza Qelichkhani, “A Handbook of Persian Calligraphy and Related Arts” was rendered by Rebecca Stengel. 

The book has been edited by Shervin Faridnejad, a calligrapher, illuminator and scholar of ancient and classical Iranian studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.

Persian calligraphy and related traditional arts of books make up the most important forms of Iranian-Islamic art, which are still living, practiced traditions up to today. 

This volume puts together a first-of-a-kind handbook and contains the most important technical terminology as well as expressions and techniques connected to the traditional art of Persian calligraphy (mostly nastaliq), calligraphy tools such as the reed pen, paper and ink as well as some related fields, like taz’hib (illumination), tas’ir (historiated painting), bookbinding, etc. 

The content is based on thirty prominent classical Persian treatises, composed between twelfth and twentieth centuries. 

All terms and expressions are followed by an English description and often accompanied by an illustration. These expressions, which are keys to understanding old calligraphic treatises and many relevant sources on Islamic art, are meant to familiarize the reader with both common and forgotten techniques and terminology of calligraphic traditions. 

The volume addresses not only the artists and scholars of Iranian and Islamic art history, but also those who deal with Islamic and Iranian manuscripts, manuscript cultures, codicology and paleography.
 
Both the author and the editor of this volume are trained practicing calligraphers and illuminators, who learned the art of calligraphy and illumination through long, traditional courses of study under masters of this art. 
 
Qelichkhani has published several books including “Zar-Afshan: A Dictionary of Terms Relating to Calligraphy, Ornamentation, and the Making of Manuscripts as Found in Classical Persian Poetry”.

“A Handbook of Persian Calligraphy and Related Arts” is Volume 109 in the series “Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1: The Near and Middle East” published by Brill. 

Founded in 1683, Brill is a publishing house with offices in Boston, Paderborn, Singapore and Beijing.

source: Tehran Times

A Handbook of Persian Calligraphy and Related Arts Hamidreza Qelichkhani
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