BOGOLIUBOV, Andrei Andreevich. Kovrovyia izdeliia Srednei Azii iz sobraniia sostavlennago A. A. Bogoliubovim. Tapisseries de 'l'Asie Centrale faisant partie de la collection réunie par A. Bobgolubov. Saint Petersburg, Ekspeditsiia zagotov. bumag, 1908.
Imperial folio (69 x 51 cm). Loose plates and gatherings of text in the original portfolio of half-cloth over printed boards, title in German and Karl Hiersemann as distributor on front cover; pp. xxii (French text), xxii, [4] (Russian text), text in large folio, title-page in Russian with chromolithographic vignette, 2 double-page chromolithographic maps by F. Mikhaylov. 43 plates (36 in splendid chromolithography); portfolio with a little smudging to lettering and a few minor repairs, title-page a little spotted and with minor marginal crinkles; otherwise in very good condition.
First edition. This is an imposing publication on rugs and carpets produced in nowadays Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, collected by the governor of the Transcaspian province of the Russian Empire. Bugoliubov became a real connoisseur of the artefacts and their background based on different ethnic groups, traditions, living conditions and social structures. The maps cover the area from the middle of the east coast of the Caspian Sea down to north eastern Persia and Afghanistan, including Lake Aral. They are probably among the best ethnographic maps covering the region ever to be published, before Soviet interference in the mix of ethnic groups.
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