tribaltextiles.info

I have advance notice of the publication due in February 2014 of what looks to be a fascinating book on Sazigyo, Burmese tablet-woven bands that were used to bind palm-leaf manuscripts.

Sazigyo
Burmese Manuscript Binding Tapes
Woven Miniatures of Buddhist Art

by Ralph Isaacs ISBN:978-616-215-073-9

I attach a PDF of the Silkworm Books information sheet on the book. So far I haven't been able to find any info on the web on the publication (including at Silkworm Books or University of Washington Press) but I will endeavour to keep the forum updated as I have further information.

I understand that Ralph, with publisher Silkworm Books, is planning to launch the book at the Siam Society in Bangkok in early January, followed by Yangon and Singapore.

Ralph Isaacs worked with the British Council in Burma from 1989 to 1994, learning some Burmese language and acquiring insights into Burmese Theravada Buddhist culture. He and his wife, Ruth, donated their lacquer collection to the British Museum and their collection of sazigyo to Brighton Museum. He is co-author of Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the Art of Lacquer (British Museum Press, 2000).

I had the good fortune to hear an excellent Oxford Asian Textile Group talk given by Ralph Isaacs on these fascinating miniature wonders of tablet weaving a few years ago. I saw my first examples even earlier coiled, glowing, in a basket in the textile sitting room of the wife of the then American Ambassador to Thailand, Kathleen Johnson, herself a weaver, who has also researched them. Of course, they are so much more than 'mere' weavings as their woven lines of script and images 'were commissioned by Buddhist donors to make spiritual merit in order to attain a better rebirth and ultimately nirvana'.

I see from the information sheet that the book will retail at Thai Baht 1,850/US$ 100.00.
Orders and Enquiries to:
University of Washington Press
c/o Hopkins Fulfillment Services
P.O. Box 50370, Baltimore, MD 21211-4370
Phone: 800-537-5487 or: 410-516-6956 • Fax: 510-516-6998
Email: HFSCUSTSERV@MAIL.PRESS.JHU.EDU
Website: http://www.washington.edu/uwpress

Distributed in Thailand by:
Silkworm Books
6 Sukkasem Road, Suthep, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
Tel: +66 53 22-6161 • Fax: +66 53 22-6643
Email: orders@silkwormbooks.com
Website: http://www.silkwormbooks.com

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Just a minor correction: 1850Baht is not $100... it's more like $60 now.
Sounds like a welcome addition to the literature on these woven treasures.

I took the price from the book handout. It will probably follow the precedent which we experience in the UK market where sellers aim to get the highest price and ignore currency equivalents. We are used here to having to pay £100 for a $100 item! I will be interested to see what price is being charged for it in London in February! It is currently on Amazon.com for pre-ordering at $77.92 (reduced from $100) with 'free delivery' presumably for US orders only but there is search failure when searching for the book on Amazon.co.uk - I don't know about other country Amazon sites.

I saw Facebook feedback from forum member Digna who went to the Bangkok launch saying that it went well and the "Sazigyo book is superb!"

_________________
Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

The book is now showing on Silkworm books http://www.silkwormbooks.com/catalog/in ... index.html and it is also up on Amazon.co.uk at £56.45, discounted 10% from the RRP of £63.00, plus free delivery as a 'pre-order'.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

At long last SOAS (University of London) have put up on their website about Ralph Isaacs' talk on 19 February 2014:

"Sazigyo: making a printed book about woven texts - Burmese tablet-woven manuscript binding tapes"

(clink the link) for details:

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Murni and I also went to the launch and it was an excellent talk for an excellent book. It is the only book on the subject - apart from one, I believe, in Burmese. A few articles have been published over the years. I'm pleased to say that four from Murni's collection are featured in the book.

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Jonathan

www.murnis.com