Roxburgh (history of art, U. of Pennsylvania) traces factors which shaped the genre of the album preface written to introduce albums of calligraphy, painting, and drawing assembled for the
Persian court. Their innovation was incorporating biographical sketches and presenting them as histories of art. His study of developments in 16th-century Persian art historiography concludes
with an analysis of calligrapher Dust Mohammad's aesthetics. Includes 40 b&w illustrations. Appendices describe elements and recensions of selected manuscript prefaces; compare album
prefaces to prefaces in other literary genres; and contain a genealogy of master-student relationships. Based on a doctoral dissertation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
(booknews.com)
