"Published in cooperation with the Asia Society, New York."

"Catalogue of an exhibition shown in Asia House Gallery in the winter of 1979 as an activity of the Asia Society." Also shown at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum and the St. Louis Art Museum.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-216).

"This is the second exhibition assembled for Asia House Gallery by Anthony Welch."

Calligraphy occupies the central place in Islam's visual culture, yet Western art history has focussed far more on Islam's figural than on its calligraphic arts, and there is little awareness of the art that pervades Islamic civilization. This state of relative neglect has provided much of the initial impetus for this exhibition and this book; each in its way is an attempt to create balance in our understanding of one of the worlds great cultures. But the subejct is too vast and even too diffuse. What is presented here is a small sampling of the aesthetic, cultural, and scholarly wealth available. -- Preface.

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