Various - 8 Persian Art Books - 2002-2018

1. Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings, Ferdowsi,foreword by Sheila Canby, 2013, 570 pages, in English, Hardcover with slipcase, has a personal gift note on front page

Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings (2013) is a magnificent illustrated edition of Persia’s greatest literary masterpiece, originally composed by the poet Abolqasem Ferdowsi over a thousand years ago. Translated and adapted into prose by Ahmad Sadri and illustrated by John Guggenheim Fellow Hamid Rahmanian, this landmark 570-page hardcover volume — presented in a gilt-lettered slipcase — brings an ancient epic to vivid life for modern audiences.
The narrative spans the entire arc of Persian civilization, from the mythological creation of the world and the rise of the first Persian kings to the Arab conquest of Iran in the seventh century. It weaves together myth, history, and poetry into a tapestry of superhuman heroes, magical creatures, legendary battles, and timeless love stories. The book’s more than 500 full-color illustrations are crafted as intricate collages drawn from thousands of illuminated manuscripts, miniatures, and lithographs dating from the 13th through 19th centuries. The foreword is by Sheila Canby, Patti Cadby Birch Curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This copy includes a personal gift inscription on the front page.
Note on personal gift inscription: The handwritten dedication adds unique sentimental and provenance value to this already collectible volume.

2. Technologies of the Image: Art in 19th-Century Iran,Editors/Authors: Edited by David J. Roxburgh and Mary McWilliams, with contributions by Farshid Emami and Mira Xenia Schwerda, 173 pages, 2017, Hardback in English

Technologies of the Image is an illustrated catalogue and scholarly exploration of visual culture in 19th-century Qajar Iran, an era that saw dramatic changes in how images were made, circulated, and understood. The book accompanies an exhibition held at the Harvard Art Museums and brings together essays that examine four principal mediums—lacquerware, painting and drawing on paper, lithography, and photography—to show how new technologies and cultural exchanges influenced Iranian art. Rather than treating these media in isolation, the contributors explore their interconnected histories, showing how printed images, photochromes, and European imports shaped artistic practices across social contexts. The catalogue illustrates works ranging from intricately decorated lacquer objects to early Iranian photographic portraits, emphasizing how images moved across and between formats. In doing so, it challenges older narratives that marginalize 19th-century Iranian art and instead presents a dynamic picture of artistic innovation in response to technological change, global influence, and local creativity. Richly illustrated and grounded in historical research, the book highlights both elite and popular visual culture in a period of artistic transformation.

3. Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture, Sabiha Al Khemir, 2012,264 pages, Hardback in English

Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture is a richly illustrated exhibition catalogue and introductory exploration of Islamic art, authored by scholar Sabiha Al Khemir. The book was published to accompany the major traveling exhibition of the same name, which debuted in 2012 at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art and later toured several U.S. museums. The work’s central aim is to answer the question “What makes Islamic art Islamic?” through thematic sections that address key aspects of artistic production in the Islamic world — including calligraphy (“the word”), figural representation, and intricate patterns. Drawing on over 250 objects from ten countries and multiple lenders, the catalogue blends historical context, cultural interpretation, and visual appreciation. Essays and object entries guide the reader through the spiritual and aesthetic principles underlying works ranging from manuscripts and metalwork to ceramics and textiles. Through its inclusive, educational approach, Beauty and Belief invites readers to engage deeply with Islamic culture, challenging assumptions and fostering cross-cultural understanding through the universal language of beauty.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 264 pages, Hardback in English — generously illustrated art catalogue format including essays, object entries, and glossary.

4.Empire des Roses: Chefs-d’oeuvre de l’art persan du XIXe siècle, Snoeck, Louvre, 2018, 425 pages, Harback in French

Empire of Roses: Masterpieces of 19th-Century Persian Art
(Empire des Roses, Snoeck/Louvre, 2018, 425 pp.)
Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Musée du Louvre, this richly illustrated hardcover catalogue explores the extraordinary flourishing of Persian art during the Qajar dynasty (1796–1925). The volume brings together masterpieces spanning painting, lacquerwork, textiles, jewelry, enamels, and decorative objects produced under the patronage of Qajar rulers, most notably Fath Ali Shah and Naser al-Din Shah. The title references the rose, a central motif in Persian culture, poetry, and visual arts, symbolizing both royal power and romantic idealism.
Scholarly essays by leading specialists examine how Qajar artists synthesized ancient Iranian traditions with influences from European academic painting, creating a distinctive and vibrant aesthetic. The catalogue presents works drawn from the Louvre’s own collections alongside loans from major international museums and private collections, offering a comprehensive reassessment of a period long underappreciated in the history of Islamic art.

5.Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A Moyà Carey, 2017, 272 pages, Hardback in English

Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A
Moya Carey, V&A Publishing, 2017, 272 pp.
Written by Moya Carey, Iran Heritage Foundation Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this richly illustrated scholarly volume traces the formation of the V&A’s celebrated Iranian collections, assembled primarily between 1873 and 1893. The book focuses on a defining period of contact between Victorian Britain and Qajar Iran, examining how the museum’s holdings — spanning twelve centuries of Iranian cultural history — were systematically acquired through a network of architects, diplomats, dealers, and craftsmen.
Structured around four in-depth case studies, the book explores figures such as Robert Murdoch Smith, Owen Jones, William Morris, and William De Morgan, revealing how commercial ambition, imperial politics, and genuine aesthetic fascination shaped European engagement with Persian visual traditions. Highlights include the story of the legendary Ardabil Carpet and previously unpublished archival material. A landmark contribution to the history of collecting and Islamic art studies.

6.Pattern and Light: Aga Khan Museum, Skira Rizzoli, 2014, 176 pages, Hardback in English

Published to mark the opening of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, this elegant volume serves as both an introductory catalogue and a visual celebration of one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art and architecture. The museum itself, designed by the renowned Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, is presented here alongside the extraordinary permanent collection assembled under the patronage of His Highness the Aga Khan.
The book showcases approximately 100 masterworks spanning thirteen centuries and a vast geographic arc from Moorish Spain to Mughal India, including illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, scientific instruments, and architectural elements. The title reflects two governing themes: the mathematical sophistication of Islamic decorative arts and the spiritual and aesthetic significance of light in Islamic culture and architecture.
Scholarly yet accessible, the texts situate each object within its historical and cultural context, making the volume an ideal introduction to Islamic artistic traditions for both general readers and specialists. The superb photography by Gary Otte does full justice to the objects’ beauty and craftsmanship.

7.The Golden Age of Persian Art 1501-1722, Sheila R Canby, 2002, 192 pages, Softcover in English

Written by Sheila R. Canby, formerly Curator of Islamic Art at the British Museum and one of the foremost authorities on Persian art, this compact yet authoritative survey covers the entire Safavid period, widely regarded as the most brilliant chapter in Iranian artistic history. The book examines the extraordinary cultural efflorescence that unfolded under Safavid dynastic patronage from the reign of Shah Ismail I through the fall of the dynasty in 1722.
Canby guides the reader through the full range of Safavid artistic production, including carpet weaving, manuscript illumination and painting, bookbinding, lacquerwork, metalwork, ceramics, glass, and textiles. Special attention is given to the legendary royal workshops, or kitabkhana, and to individual master artists such as Riza Abbasi. The book also explores the role of the Safavid court cities — Tabriz, Qazvin, and above all Isfahan — as centers of patronage and artistic innovation.
Clearly written and generously illustrated, the volume remains an essential and accessible introduction to Safavid art for students, collectors, and general readers alike.

8.In the garden of Isfahan: Islamic Architecture from the 16th to the 18th century, Werner Blaser, Niggli Verlag, 2010, 147 pages, Hardcover in German and English

An ancient Persian proverb declares “Isfahan is half the world,” and this lavishly illustrated volume by eminent Swiss architectural photographer and architect Werner Blaser pays tribute to that enduring reputation. Born in Basel and trained under Alvar Aalto before coming into contact with Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Blaser brings a distinctly modernist architectural sensibility to his passionate study of Safavid Isfahan.
The book focuses on the great monuments of Isfahan’s golden age under the Safavid dynasty, covering the city’s legendary garden complexes, grand boulevards, covered bridges, mosques, minarets, and palaces — most notably the magnificent Naghsh-e Jahan Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Blaser’s central argument is that Islamic garden design, with its geometrically ordered layouts and paradisiacal symbolism, represents one of the supreme achievements of world architecture, in which nature itself becomes a work of art. The bilingual German and English text is accompanied by a foreword by Babak Dehchaman and illustrated with colour and black-and-white photographs alongside architectural pen drawings.