Selected Papers of Coomaraswamy, Volume 1

Traditional Art and Symbolism

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Roger Lipsey

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9780691277509
  9780691277493
• eBook ISBN:
  9780691290904
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Asian Art

A collection of important essays by a pioneering interpreter of Indian art, philosophy, and mythology

“Brilliant.”—Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces

“Varied, imaginative, incredibly learned. . . . Fascinating.”—John Kenneth Galbraith, New York Times Book Review

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877–1947) was a pioneer in the study of Indian art, philosophy, and mythology—and in the cultural meeting of East and West. A scholar in the tradition of the great Indian grammarians and philosophers, an art historian convinced that the ultimate value of art transcends history, and a social thinker influenced by William Morris, Coomaraswamy was a unique figure whose works provide virtually a complete education in themselves. Finding a universal tradition in past cultures ranging from the Hellenic and Christian to the Indian, Islamic, and Chinese, he presented his ideas in numerous essays. This volume includes a selection of his essays on art and symbolism that were written in the 1930s and 1940s, when he was at the height of his powers.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Editor’s Note
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Abbreviations and Short Titles
• List of Works by A. K. Coomaraswamy Cited in These Volumes
• Introduction, by Roger Lipsey
• The Indian Temple
• Synoptic Essays
• Indian Art and Aesthetics
• Mediaeval Art and Aesthetics
• Further Studies
• Traditional Symbolism: Methodology
• Traditional Symbolism: Four Studies
• Traditional Symbolism: The Sundoor and Related Motifs
• General Index
• Index of Greek Terms
• Index of Sanskrit and Pāli Terms