[INDOLOGY] Gemology in S. Asia?

Fri Jun 13 22:58:38 UTC 2014

I'm sorry that I seem to have missed the first message (sometimes Indology
mails get sent to my spam folder...). Anyway, a quick search for a book I
remembered found what is apparently a book dealers reference (?), which is
nice because of the brief summarY:

*FINOT, Louis.** (1864 - 1935)*
------------------------------
(*Born:* 1864; *Died:* 1935) *French oriental scholar.*

Educated in Paris, Finot came onto the staff of the Bibliotheque Nationale
in 1890. He specialized in the study of Indian languages, archeology,
ethnology. In 1917 he became the Director of Studies at the École Pratique
des Hautes Études.

Biographical references: ABF: II 263, 44-45. *•* DBF: *13*, 1378. *•* WBI.

*1. French, 1896.*
Les | Lapidaires Indiens | Par | Louis Finot | [...2 lines of titles and
memberships...] | [ornament] | Paris | Librairie Émile Bouillon, Éditeur |
67, Rue De Richelieu, Au Premier | [short rule] | 1896.

8°: [8], [I]-LII, [4], [1]-280 p. *Page size:* 240 x 160 mm. uncut.

Contents: [2 pgs], Half title page, verso "Chalon-Sur-Saone, Imp Française
Et Orientale De L. Marceau.".; [2 pgs], Title page, verso blank.; [2 pgs],
Series title page, verso blank.; [1 pg], Note of award to Finot.; [1 pg],
Blank.; [I]-LII, "Introduction."; [1 pg], "Abreviations."; [1 pg], Blank.;
[1 pg], "Bibliographie."; [1 pg], Blank.; [1]-207, Text.; [208], Blank.;
[209]-244, "Variantes Et Notes."; [245]-273, "Indices."; [274], Blank.;
[275]-277, "Additions Et Corrections."; [278], Blank.; [289]-280, "Table
Des Matières."

Very scarce. This is a study of ancient Indian lapidaries reproduced in
Sanskrit together with copiously annotated parallel translations in French.
The lengthy introduction provides a history of lapidary tradition in
ancient India and compares the various works against each other. This is
followed by the reproduction and translations of the ancent texts:
*Ratnapariksâ* of Buddhabhatta, *Brhatsamhitâ* of Varâhamihira, *Agastimata*
, *Navaratnapariksâ*,*Agastiyâ Ratnapariksâ*, *Ratnasamgraha*,
*Laghu-Ratnapariksâ*, and the *Manimâhâtmya*. Many pages of textual notes
and comprehensive indexes conclude the book.

*Facsimile reprint, 1986:* Paris, Adidom, 1986.

Bibliographical references: Biswas, *Gems and Minerals in Ancient India*,
1997: ????. *•* Sinkankas, *Gemology Bibliography*, 1993: no. 2107.

best, jonathan

On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 11:34 PM, Andrew Nicholson <
andrew.nicholson at stonybrook.edu> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> Thanks to all who responded to my query off-list. Based on your
> recommendations, I've put together the following mini-bibliography:
>
> Babb, Lawrence (2013). Emerald City: The Birth and Evolution of an
> Indian Gemstone Industry. Albany: SUNY Press.
>
> McHugh, James (2013). "Gemstones," in Brill's Encyclopedia of
> Hinduism, ed. Knut Jacobsen. Leiden: Brill.
>
> Meulenbeld, G.J. (1999-2002). A History of Indian Medical Literature,
> vols. 1-4. Groningen: E. Forsten.
>
> Tank, Raj Roop (1971). Indian Gemology. Jaipur: Dulichand Kirtichand Tank.
>
> Wojtilla, Gyula (2011). "Ratnasastra in Kautilya's Arthasastra," in
> Scientific Literature in Sanskrit, ed. S.R. Sarma and Gyula Wojtilla.
> Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
>
> Also of note is the new research project in Heidelberg, "Garnet in
> South Asia: Historical and Archaeological Sources."
>
> All the best,
> Andrew
> __________________________
> Andrew J. Nicholson
> Associate Professor
> SUNY Stony Brook
> Stony Brook, NY 11794-5343
> (631) 632-4030
> http://philosophicalrasika.com/
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 4:41 PM, Andrew Nicholson
> <andrew.nicholson at stonybrook.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Colleagues,
> >
> > A professor in the English department at my university approached me
> > with a question about a text she had encountered, S.M. Tagore's
> > Manimala (1879). I explained to her what is going on in that
> > interesting quadrilingual (Sanskrit-Hindi-Bengali-English) work.
> > However, she has other questions about the history of gems and
> > gemology in South Asia that are well outside my range of expertise.
> >
> > I was wondering if some of you might recommend books on the cultural
> > history of precious stones in S. Asia (preferably accessible to
> > someone with limited knowledge of S. Asia). Additionally, if one of
> > you who is an expert on the history of gems in S. Asia might be
> > willing to answer her questions, or if there is another colleague
> > off-list who might, I'm sure she would be very grateful if I could put
> > you in touch via e-mail.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your help.
> >
> > Andrew
> > ____________________________
> > Andrew J. Nicholson
> > Associate Professor
> > SUNY Stony Brook
> > Stony Brook, NY 11794-5343 USA
> > http://philosophicalrasika.com/
>
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> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> http://listinfo.indology.info
>

-- 
J. Silk
Instituut Kern / Universiteit Leiden
Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
Johan Huizinga Building, Room 1.37
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden
The Netherlands

copies of my publications may be found at
http://www.buddhismandsocialjustice.com/silk_publications.html

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