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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Hotei Publishing

Established in Leiden, Hotei Publishing specializes in books relating to Japan. Hotei Publishing has operated as an imprint of Brill since 2006.

Hotei Publishing: 1998 - 2008

Hotei Publishing celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Please check back regularly for information on our anniversary offers and events.

To view Hotei's full range, please click here.

Highlights and new titles in Hotei’s catalog include:

Visions of Japan: Kawase Hasui’s Masterpieces brings together in a single volume one hundred of the artist’s most celebrated prints. Fully illustrated, this publication includes annotated descriptions for each work, as well as two essays on Hasui’s life and work by Dr. Kendall H. Brown. The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints (2005); a major two-volume reference work on the history of Japanese prints, containing essays by the foremost specialists in the field, with an elaborate reference section and many appendices covering such subjects as the artists’ signatures or publishers’ seals.
A Brush with Animals gives an overview of 250 years of Japanese animal painting, with emphasis on works by artists of the naturalistic Shijô School. Many of the paintings are published here for the first time, having been selected from collections of members of the Society for Japanese Arts, (to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Society). You can view some pages from a Brush with Animals here and here.

Hotei's Partnerships

Hotei is famous for its efforts to combine an attractive product with scholarly excellence. We work in close cooperation both with museums and with an international team of museum curators, art historians and specialist authors.

Please take time to read this interview from 2005 with the author of 'Japanese Export Lacquer' and 'Fine and Curious': Interview Christiaan Jörg

Japanese Export Lacquer 1580–1850 (2005); a 400-page work with more than 600 illustrations, addressing a fascinating material aspect of relations between Japan and the West Fine & Curious (2003)
An enduring witness to Dutch-Japanese relations is Arita export porcelain made for the Dutch market in the 17th and 18th centuries. This survey offers a fascinating insight into a relatively unknown aspect of Dutch-Japanese interaction and is the first book of its kind devoted to this subject in English.

Book Series; Japanese Art (Hotei imprint)

Famous Japanese Prints

www.brill.nl/fjps

Brill's Acquisitions Editor:
Inge Klompmakers

Forthcoming Series: Japanese Art

Japanese Visual Culture www.brill.nl/jvcs (website link not yet active)

Brill's Acquisitions Editor; Inge Klompmakers. Edited by John Carpenter (SOAS/University of London; The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures), Julie Nelson Davis (University of Pennsylvania), Shigeru Oikawa (Nihon Joshi Daigaku), Hans Bjarne Thomsen (University of Zurich), Gennifer Weissenfeld (Duke University).

Hotei Special Offers and Features

Kimono
Paul van Riel and Liza Dalby

The exhibition "Kyoto Dolls, a journey through the Geisha’s World" with photographs by the well known Japan photographer Paul van Riel, was recently on view at the Siebold house in Leiden (http://www.sieboldhuis.org/). Van Riel’s book Kimono, featuring beautiful photographs of people dressed in kimono remains available through Brill.

Any first time visitor to Japan will be struck by that most beautiful symbol of its ancient culture: the kimono. This book contains a selection of the numerous encounters photographer Paul van Riel had with people wearing the kimono all over Japan. Although the popularity of the kimono has dwindled somewhat the last twenty-five years, the national garment of Japan is still deeply-rooted in Japanese culture, as these photographs testify. In the introduction Liza Dalby describes the kimono's transformation from daily clothing to formal wear. Her personal experiences give us a glimpse of the meanings the kimono has for the geisha.

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