• Collects essential translations from sources as diverse as the Qur'an, court chronicles, technical treatises on calligraphy and painting, imperial memoirs, and foreign travel accounts
• Includes clear and concise introductory essays
• Situates each text and explains the circumstances in which it was written--the date, place, author, and political conditions
• Provides a vivid window into Islamic visual culture and society
• An indispensable tool for teachers and students of art and visual culture

"Recommended. Lower-and upper-level undergraduates; general readers." (Choice, 1 October 2011)

"Much-needed and thoughtfully compiled, this anthology of primary sources will be a welcome resource for those who teach Islamic art history." (Book New, 1 August 2011)

D. Fairchild Ruggles is Professor of Landscape, Art, and Architectural History at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her first book, Gardens, Landscape, and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain (2000), won the Eleanor Tufts Award from the American Society for Hispanic Art Historical Studies. Her most recent book is Islamic Gardens and Landscapes (2008), which won the J.B. Jackson Prize from the Foundation for Landscape Studies. Her edited and co-edited books include Women, Patronage and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies (2000), Cultural Heritage and Human Rights (2007), Sites Unseen: Landscape and Vision (2007), and Intangible Heritage Embodied (2009).