Forthcoming Releases

ORCHID BOOKS

INDIVIDUAL TITLES

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Precious Materials in Asian History: Essays on Turquoise, Amber, Ivory, Diamond and Gold by Berthold Laufer Spring 2023, 275 pp., 2 col. & 24 b & w plates, index, 24.5 x 17.5 cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-109-1 Price to be announced. ISBN-13: 978-974-524-109-1 Essays on the sources, usage, social significance and folklore of some of the most prominent precious materials in the history of China, South Asia and the Himalayas. A rich source of information on the anthropological implications of these materials, and the sometimes subtle links that developed between East and West in the quest for these treasured substances.    Berthold Laufer (1874-1934) was one of the earliest and most erudite Western scholars of Asian culture. He was the primary contributor to the great collection of anthropological material now preserved at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, a collection he curated for some 26 years. A world renowned expert on jade in China, his writings on which remain important references to the present, the current collection of essays summarize his writings on precious substances other than jade.

CENTRAL ASIAN STUDIES

[Enquire]		Cultures of the Hindukush After Jettmar by Alberto M. Cacopardo October 2022, xviii, 152 pp., 229 x 152, index, hardbound. ISBN-13: 978-1-7782522-0-4 $45.00 Published as a companion to and augmentation of the bibliographical work in Professor Jettmar's The Religions of the Hindukush (Orchid Press 2022 [2018]), the present volume documents some 1200 additional references, both earlier works omitted in Jettmar's original bibliography and a large volume of subsequent publications on various aspects of Peristan studies, up to 2022. Thus, Cultures of the Hindukush after Jettmar provides the scholar with an indispensable resource to follow on from Jettmar, and to bring him/her to the present state of research in the field. Further, the bibliography expands on Jettmar's work to provide guidance in a broad spectrum of Peristan studies, including archaeology, ethnology, geography, genetics and physical anthropology, history, linguistics and bibliography. An essential resource for all with interest in this field.
[Enquire]		Religions of the Hindukush by Karl Jettmar End 2022 [2018], 530 pp., 12 b&w plates, 24 line drawings and sketches, 3 maps, 23 x 15 cm., hardbound. ISBN-13: 978-1-7782522-1-1 The traditional religion and rituals of the remote tribal groups along the borderlands of eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, with their complex cosmology of gods and demons, preserved elements from archaic Indo-Aryan, and possibly even pre-Vedic, beliefs.    While the peoples of this region were converted to Islam by the turn of the 20th century, the deeply conservative nature and geographical isolation of these tribes have combined to preserve ancient folk religious practices long extinct elsewhere in Central and South Asia.    The author, a renowned Austrian anthropologist, integrates the diverse scholarly findings of colleagues in the fields of linguistics, cultural history and archaeology, with his own field investigations to construct an authoritative, yet highly readable account of the religious practices of this remote and little understood corner of Asia. A groundbreaking and indispensable reference both for the general student of Asian religions and for those with special focus on the tribal cultures and customs of eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. (The present volume is a reissue of our 2018 edition, including a much-improved index to correct shortcomings in this area in the original publication.)
[Enquire]		Buddhist Monasteries of Nepal: A Survey of the Bāhās and Bahaīs of the Kathmandu Valley by John K. Locke, S.J., photography by Hugh R. Downs 2022. 540 pp., 334 duotone plates, 2 maps, bibliography, 29 x 21 cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-7782522-2-8 A definitive survey of the rich legacy of some 360 Buddhist architectural structures and remains in and around the Kathmandu Valley, including both the urban centers of Kathmandu, Patan and Baktapur, as well as surrounding villages. The study examines, for each site, its history, extant sacred images, details of toraṇa, and caitya as well as the overall maṇḍala represented in the monastery structure. The author also surveys a myriad of ethnographic details of Nepalese monastic life, such as daily and annual rituals, initiations, lineage deities, monastic governing structure and economics.    First published in the mid 1980s in a local Nepalese edition, now long unavailable. The high quality of the historic images will be visible for the first time in this new edition.

BIBLIOTHECA ASIATICA

ASIAN PORTRAITS

BIBLIOTHECA HIMALAYICA