Search results for ""Author Maren"

"Paul Strand is universally acclaimed as a master. His pictures rank highly among the most often reproduced masterworks of photography and have an honored place within the canon of modern art as such. People viewing his work for the first or the hundredth time find themselves captivated within a visual domain of extraordinary immediacy and freshness, not just in textures, shapes, and forms but in subtleties which make for resonating coherences within and among images."--Alan Trachtenberg, author of" Reading American Photographs: Images as History, Mathew Brady to Walker Evans," excerpted from the" Introduction" "In Strand's pictures, we find the work of a quiet but intense man who transmuted the real into the ideal, "the ordinary in man and the transitory in nature converted into eternal symbols.""--Estelle Jussim, author of "Slave to Beauty: The Eccentric Life and Controversial Career of F. Holland Day, Photographer, Publisher, Aesthete," from her essay A visionary artist of the twentieth century, Paul Strand was much more than a gifted imagemaker. Throughout his long and productive life which ended in 1976, Strand was a leading advocate of photography as a fine art and a political activist deeply committed to social issues. He was an innovative filmmaker and a pioneer in developing photography books that combined images with words. To celebrate the centenary of Paul Strand's birth, an international team of scholars and writers, many of whom knew or worked with Strand, has produced a volume of essays and meditations on his life and work. Alan Trachtenberg, professor of English and American Studies at Yale University, provides the insightful introduction. Gloria Naylor, Russell Banks, Jim Harrison, Carolyn Forché , Jerome Liebling, Charles Simic, and Reynolds Price respond, each uniquely, to individual photographs. Naomi Rosenblum, Jan-Christopher Horak, Robert Adams, Milton Brown, Richard Benson, Estelle Jussim, and Anne Tucker, among others, offer lively scholarship and comment. Jussim discusses Strand's aesthetic ideals; Horak contributes an evaluation of the motion picture "Manhatta," produced in 1921 by Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler; Benson writes from personal experience about Strand's darkroom practices; and internationally-regarded photographic-historian Naomi Rosenblum offers a fresh account of Strand's early development. Drawing on letters, journals, interviews, and previously unpublished writings, these thoughtful essays span Strands lifetime, from his remarkable debut in Alfred Stieglitz's periodical, "Camera Work," to his travels in the American Southwest and in Mexico, and his final years in Europe and Africa. These essays are an unsurpassed chronicle of artistic genius and a vital addition to the library of every serious photographer, Strand aficionado, cultural historian, and print collector. Published in the 100th anniversary of Paul Strand's birth. Robert Adams, William Alexander, Russell Banks, Richard Benson, Milton W. Brown, Basil Davidson, Edmundo Desnoes, Catherine Duncan, Carolyn Forché , Brewster Ghiselin, Jim Harrison, Jan-Christopher Horak, Estelle Jussim, Jerome Liebling, Gloria Naylor, Reynolds Price, Belinda Rathbone, John Rohrbach, Naomi Rosenblum, Walter Rosenblum, Charles Simic, Alan Trachtenberg, Anne Tucker, Katherine C. Ware, Mike Weaver, Steve Yates

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Hermann Beckh (1875-1937) was one of the co-founders of The Christian Community. A remarkable linguist and universal scholar, he mastered six European and six Oriental languages and published more than twenty works on the humanities, dealing with Christology, Cosmology and Musicology. Having first studied Law, he later channeled his extensive research of Hinduism and Buddhism into a renewal of sacramental Christianity. 'Without the Professor', wrote his colleague Rudolf Meyer, the beginnings of the new religious movement were 'unthinkable'. Gundhild Kacer-Bock - daughter of Beckh's priest-colleague and fellow author Emil Bock - creates a lively picture of a unique personality. Beginning with his birth in Nuremberg and education in Munich, she reviews Beckh's manifold studies and writings, his meeting with Rudolf Steiner in 1911, the founding of the Movement for Religious Renewal in Stuttgart in 1922, and the seminal Christmas Conference in Dornach in 1923. Having known Beckh personally, she builds on her own memories as well as Beckh's recorded memoirs, and utilizes newly-discovered letters and documents. This new edition contains Beckh's fairy-tale 'The Story of the Little Squirrel, the Moonlight Princess and the Little Rose' (with colour illustrations by Tatjana Schellhase), with additional appreciations of the author and an illustrative plate section. --- 'A University Professor, who had been a Judge and Orientalist, now became a priest with us. He actively took part in carrying the birth of the new ritual words; he was an expert in the mysteries of language... An abundance of books came into existence whose significance perhaps will only be properly appreciated in the future.' - Emil Bock (1959)

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In the early part of the last century, Professor Hermann Beckh began a search to discover the truth about the Mystery wisdom of antiquity. As a recognized authority on Buddhist texts, he knew that complete knowledge of such Mysteries was not to be found within the limitations of waking consciousness, sense perception and logic. Beckh was already aware that Gautama Buddha had indicated the stages of higher knowledge. Furthermore, his studies of Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophical teachings revealed that such knowledge could be experienced directly, given disciplined meditation. Clairvoyant cognition included the conscious penetration of sleep consciousness, the dream state and an experience of pre-natal consciousness. Both the Mysteries and Rudolf Steiner’s major books, he concluded, were founded on the same perceptions. Beckh – a worldwide expert on Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali and Avestan texts – quickly became disenchanted with Madame Blavatsky’s Theosophy, as it displayed little precise academic knowledge of primary records. At the same time, university departments showed scant trace of understanding the texts they analysed through philology and sociology. Thus, based on comprehensive studies and personal experience, he resolved to present his own perceptions and vision to the public. The results are to be found in this invaluable book, bringing together for the first time in English three groundbreaking publications: Our Origin in the Light (Genesis 1-9) (1924); Zarathustra (1927) and From the World of the Mysteries

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For many of us, the term 'medieval philosophy' conjures up the figure of Thomas Aquinas, and is closely intertwined with religion. In this Very Short Introduction John Marenbon shows how medieval philosophy had a far broader reach than the thirteenth and fourteenth-century universities of Christian Europe, and is instead one of the most exciting and diversified periods in the history of thought. Introducing the coexisting strands of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish philosophy, Marenbon shows how these traditions all go back to the Platonic schools of late antiquity and explains the complex ways in which they are interlinked. Providing an overview of some of the main thinkers, such as Boethius, Abelard, al-Fârâbî, Avicenna, Maimonides, and Gersonides, and the topics, institutions and literary forms of medieval philosophy, he discusses in detail some of the key issues in medieval thought: universals; mind, body and mortality; foreknowledge and freedom; society and the best life. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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The two contradicting genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels have long puzzled biblical scholars. Rudolf Steiner's spiritual research led him to the controversial theological conclusion that historically there existed two Jesus boys, born of two holy families. These two boys, he said, were necessary as part of the spiritual preparation of forming a suitable human body for the incarnation of Christ into the earthly realm. Both apocryphal texts and the writings of the Essenes - as discovered at Qumran by the Dead Sea - now appear to support this conception, with references to Messianic figures from both royal and priestly lines. Various authors have developed Rudolf Steiner's observations - first presented in the early twentieth century - although much of this literature has lacked the rigour of accurate and broad scholarship. The Two Jesus Boys is not simply a derivative rehash of these previous publications. Rather, it offers a fresh investigation of primary sources, coupled with an objective determination to allow the facts to speak for themselves. Christoph Rau thus comes to the unavoidable conclusion that Steiner's presentation of the chronology of the two births needs revision; furthermore, the most recent discoveries and interpretations of Essene scrolls reveal that the Jewish sect expected not one but three Messiahs. Rau quotes from and analyses numerous documents from the landscape of early Christianity and Judaism. His findings provide a secure foundation for the historical existence of two Jesus boys in the prelude to Christ's incarnation on earth, as well as a revelation of the Essenes' long expectation of three Messiahs.

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For almost two decades, Napoleon Bonaparte was the most feared, and revered, man in Europe. At the height of his power, the land under his control stretched from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and encompassed most of Western Europe. The story of how a young Corsican, who spoke French with a strange accent, became Emperor of the French at the age of just thirty-three is a remarkable one. The many fascinating objects brought together in this book detail not only Napoleon's meteoric rise to power, but also his art of war and that magnificent fighting force, the Imperial Guard, which grew from a small personal bodyguard to the size of a small army. Some of his great battles, such as Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena and Wagram, are also explored, as is Napoleon's great Oriental adventure, which saw him conquer Egypt. He took with him artists and scientists, which led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the deciphering of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Napoleon, however, took a step too far when he marched into Russia. The vast distances and the weather wrecked his army and he was never able to recover - and, eventually, his enemies proved too strong. France was invaded and he was compelled to abdicate. Napoleon was not finished, though, and he returned from exile to lead France into war one more time, only for his army to be beaten beyond all hope of recovery in the muddy Flanders fields at Waterloo. In this engaging and hugely informative book, the author takes us on a journey across Napoleonic Europe to discover the places, people and objects that tell the story of one man's life. It is a story of one of the most turbulent eras in history, one that, to this day, still bears Bonaparte's name. But his legacy lives on in the French legal and social systems and he remains as enigmatic a figure today as he did 200 years ago.

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The dramatic acceleration of digital technologies and their integration into physical products is transforming everyday objects. Our domestic appliances, furniture, clothing, are growing in intelligence. Smart objects are increasingly capable of interacting with humans in a purposeful manner with intentionality. This collection of essays, descriptions of empirical work, and design case studies brings together perspectives from interaction design, the humanities, science and technology studies, and engineering, to map, explore and interrogate ways in which our relationships with everyday smart objects might expand and be re-imagined. By offering a critical assessment on the growing place of smart technology in everyday environments, this book outlines a transdisciplinary research agenda for the future of ‘smartness’ to help define, envision, and inspire future collaborative design practices. These essays propose an understanding and design of smart objects that embrace their hybrid nature as shifting and blending tools, agents, machines, or even ‘creatures’. Authors argue that smart objects have the potential to enter into multiple kinds of relationships with humans, and form complex human-nonhuman ecologies that are both meaningful and empowering in the context of everyday life. This book also shines a light on the hidden infrastructures behind the functioning of smart objects with stirring debates tackling questions of technology, human values, and economic and ecological impact. Whether you are a design scholar, design practitioner or design activist this book will inspire through offering theoretical insights, design concepts and practical ways on how to engage in this research agenda for future smartness.

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In sixteenth-century Italy, Rome ranked second only to Venice as an important center for music book production. Throughout the century, printers in the Eternal City experimented more readily and more consistently with the materiality of the book than their Venetian counterparts, who, by standardizing their printing methods, came to dominate the international marketplace. The Romans' ingenuity and willingness to meet individual clients' needs resulted in music editions in a broader array of shapes and sizes, employing a wider range of printing techniques. They became "boutique" printers, eschewing the run-of-the-mill in favor of tailoring production to varied market demands. Accommodating the diverse requirements of their clientele, they supplied customized volumes, which Venetian presses either could not--or would not--produce. In Printing Music in Renaissance Rome, author Jane A. Bernstein offers a panoramic view of the cultures of music and the book in Rome from the beginning of printing in 1476 through the early seventeenth century. Emphasizing the exceptionalism of Roman music publishing, she highlights the innovative printing technologies and book forms devised by Roman bookmen. She also analyzes the Church's predominant influence on the book industry and, in turn, the Roman press's impact on such important composers as Palestrina, Marenzio, Victoria, and Cavalieri. Drawing on innovative publications, Bernstein reveals a synergistic relationship between music repertories and the materiality of the book. In particular, she focuses on the post-Tridentine period, when musical idioms, both new and old, challenged printers to employ alternative printing methods and modes of book presentation in the creation of their music editions. Of interest to musicologists, art historians, and book historians alike, this book builds on Bernstein's previous work as she continues to chart the course of music and the book in Renaissance Italy.

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