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PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media − and booksellers.

Rare Books

Graves and Scholars

by Kirsten Berg, April 21, 2010 12:11 PM
Whether you view Sir Aurel Stein as a tomb raider or as the savior of precious cultural objects might depend on whether you are Chinese or British. An impartial observer might merely wonder: Sir Aurel Who?

Sir Aurel Stein was born in Hungary in 1862 and later became a British citizen. He was a linguist, explorer, archaeologist, and scholar. Many of the artifacts he collected are in the British Museum and the Bodleian Library at Oxford holds his papers. Stein traveled many thousands of miles through the Middle East and Asia along the ancient trade route known as the Silk Road. He "discovered" the caves at Dunhuang and he brought the Diamond Sutra, the oldest known complete printed text, out of Asia in 1907.

He died in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1943 at the age of 83.

To understand his place in the panorama of Asian studies, Buddhist literature, art history, and linguistics is not an easy task. He played a part in the "Great Game" of exploration and geopolitics, as did the famous explorers Francis Younghusband and Sven Hedin. He lived the kind of life of study and travel that was probably only possible during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was monumental.

It is only fitting that one of the most impressive sets we have right now is Stein's Detailed Report of Explorations in Westernmost China. Consisting of four folio volumes and a map portfolio bound in silk, the books are housed in a custom folding case that, when laid out flat, is a map of the Silk Road.

Whether or not this fabulous production of Stein's work appeals to you might depend upon whether you are Chinese or British. Or English-speaking: the text throughout is printed in Chinese.




Books mentioned in this post

Tournament Of Shadows

Karl E Meyer

Dunhuang Caves 3 Volumes Dunhuang Xi Lie Hua

Dunhuang Yan Jiu

Trans Himalaya Discoveries & Adventures in Tibet 2 Volumes

Sven Hedin

Peking to Lhasa the Narrative of Journeys in the Chinese Empire Made By the Late Brigadier General George Pereira

George Pereira and Francis Younghusband

Detailed Report of Explorations in Westernmost China

Aurel Stein
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One Response to "Graves and Scholars"

Curtis Jacobson May 7, 2010 at 03:26 PM
When I stumbled across one of Kirsten Berg's rare book essays months ago, I realized I needed to "favorite" powells.com From my viewpoint, this blog represents what makes Powells better than those other guys. Your enthusiasm for books keeps my buying books, and it keeps me buying them HERE.

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