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Pictograph to Alphabet and Back: Reconstructing the Pictograph Origins of the Xajil Chronicle (Transactions Vol. 102 #4)

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The Xajil Chronicle of the Kaqchikel Maya of Guatemala is topically the most diverse, lengthy, and organizationally complex of the surviving highland-Maya historical texts that were first recorded alphabetically in the colonial period. In this monograph, the author demonstrates that much of the Chronicle was redacted from preconquest pictographic documents, documents that new are lost.

Both the organization and topical coverage allow the author to identify the specific genres of the pictographic originals and characterize the content of preconquest historical “archives” as well as gauge the amount of information contained in such documents, which would necessarily have been committed to memory by indigenous historians.

Robert M. Hill II is Professor of Anthropology at Tulane University. His research, carried out mostly in the highland regions of Guatemala, has refined understanding of how the ancient Maya became the modern Maya. He is the author of several articles and books, including Colonial Cakchiquels: Highland Maya Adaptations to Spanish Rule, 1600-1700 (1992) and, with Judith Maxwell, Kaqchikel Chronicles (2006)

History of Alexander the Great (Transactions Vol. 102 #3)

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Flora Kimmich (translator)
G. W. Bowersock (preface)
Brian Bosworth (foreword)

Flora Kimmich has translated J.G. Droysen’s classic study into English for the first time. Through her masterly rendering she brings this foundational work of modern historiography of the ancient world to a new audience. Based entirely on ancient sources, this is an exhaustive, beautifully narrated account of Alexander from the origins of the ancient Macedonian kingdom to Alexander’s death in Babylon in 323 B.C. Droysen’s interpretation of Alexander, first published in 1833 by a 25-year-old Privatdozent, is colored both by the idealistic exuberance of German romanticism and the wars of liberation and, in a substantially revised second edition published in 1877, by the imperial optimism of a newly consolidated Germany. This translation of the 1877 edition, with complete notes, does full justice to Droysen’s celebrated prose style. The monograph is enhanced with special introductory sections by Glen W. Bowersock and Brian Bosworth. Map.

The House of Barnes: The Man, The Collection, The Controversy (Memoir Vol. 266)

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The House of Barnes: The Man, The Collection, The Controversy is a beautifully written study of the extraordinary art collector and volatile personality Albert C. Barnes. The book places him in the context of his own era, shedding new light on the ideas and movements (about art collecting, education, and aesthetics) that shaped so much of his thinking.

The Barnes’ major holdings of largely post-impressionist art include more than 800 paintings, with a strong focus on Renoir (181 canvases), Cézanne (69), Matisse (59), and Picasso (46 paintings and drawings). In its entirety, it is the greatest single collection of such art that has remained intact.

The last chapters of the book address the controversial events surrounding the Barnes Foundation’s move to Philadelphia, including vehement opposition—as well as strong support. There is an analysis of the Foundation’s financial plight, a review of the major court cases over the decades, and a characterization of the fervent reactions following the court’s decision to allow the move to take place.

The monograph is recommended for a broad audience, including those interested in art and art collecting, the role of art in education, and the development of cultural institutions.

Review of Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Anthiine Fishes

Review of Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Anthiine Fishes (Teleostei: Perciformes: Serranidae), with Descriptions of Two New Genera: Transactions, APS (Vol. 102, Part 2)

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This study presents a taxonomic review of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific members of the serranid subfamily Anthiinae, providing a much-needed survey of an important group of fishes. This monograph builds upon the literature with the results of examinations of large numbers of museum specimens and a few observations made on living animals. Illustrations include color photos.

Both English and Latin: Bilingualism and Biculturalism in Milton’s Neo-Latin Writings: Transactions, APS (Vol. 102, Part 1)

Both English and Latin: Bilingualism and Biculturalism in Milton’s Neo-Latin Writings: Transactions, APS (Vol. 102, Part 1)

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This study examines the interplay of Latin and English in a selection of John Milton’s neo-Latin writings. It argues that this interplay is indicative of an inherent bilingualism that proceeds hand-in-hand with a self-fashioning that is bicultural in essence. Interlingual flexibility ultimately proved central to the poet of Paradise Lost, an epic uniquely characterized by its Latinate vernacular and its vernacular Latinitas. Author Estelle Haan (Sheehan) is Professor of English and Neo-Latin Studies at The Queen’s University of Belfast. She is a well-known and well-respected Neo-Latinist who has published several volumes with the American Philosophical Society and has recently edited Milton’s Latin and Greek poetry for Oxford University Press.

Figuring History: American Philosophical Society Transactions Vol. 101 #4

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Transactions Vol. 101 #4
In the past half-century the writing of history has been the object of much critical scrutiny by literary scholars, philosophers and historians. History painting has traditionally been an important topic in art history. The illustration of history books, in contrast, has not attracted much attention. The present study is a preliminary inquiry into the changing ways in which graphics, ranging from representational images to statistical charges, have been used to enhance or illuminate historical texts.

See the accompanying online illustration porfolio at http://amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/Transactions_101_4.pdf

Peiresc's History of Provence: Antiquarianism and the Discovery of a Medieval Mediterranean (APS Transaction 101 #3)

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American Philosophical Society Transactions Vol. 101 #3

Treason on Trial in Revolutionary Pennsylvania

Treason on Trial in Revolutionary Pennsylvania: APS Transactions Vol. 101 #2

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American Philosophical Society Transactions Vol. 101 #2

In the fall of 1778 John Roberts, a prosperous Quaker miller who owned valuable property located about ten miles from Philadelpha, stood trial before a jury that found him guilty of having committed treason. He was charged with having betrayed the patriot cause and the nascent government of Pennsylvania by joining the British when they had earlier occupied Philadelphia. If not entirely innocent, did Roberts nevetheless deserve a trip to the gallows a month after the jury returned its verdict? Relying on two long-neglected contemporary records of this treason trial, David Maxey explores in depth the issue of Roberts’s guilt while capturing the atmosphere of confusion, conflicting loyalties, political bickering, and religious tension that prevailed in and around Philadelphia during that period. This is a study, replete in characters and contraditions, of the American Revolution as a civil war that divided neighbors and neghborhoods and of pardon that came haltingly when it came at all. Illus.

Kronos, Shiva, and Asklepios: Studies in Magical Gems and Religions of the Roman Empire: Transactions, APS (Vol. 101, Part 5)

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Iconographies and texts that appear in some series of magical gems are presented in this fascinating study. Magical gems are still a scarcely explored area of antiquity in which new features of religion can be discovered. This volume presents an intriguing religious complex that concerns the Egyptian Kronos, his relations with Syrian culture, and Platonism. A totally new aspect of this book considers the reflection of Brahmanic thought on the iconography of magical gems. Contents: Introduction: Magical Gems as a Documentary Source for Ancient Religon; Theology on Magical Gems; Metamorphoses of Kronos on a Gem in Bologna; New Reading of the Osiris Myth in Near-Eastern Magic; Helios-Shiva: Porphyry, Ardhanarisvara, and a Magical Gem in Naples; Asklepios Leontouchos and Divine Triads on Syrian Gems; Empousa, Also Called Onoskelis. Illus.

Life of C. S. Rafinesque, A Man of Uncommon Zeal

Life of C. S. Rafinesque, A Man of Uncommon Zeal

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Charles Boewe’s study of Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) began more than 50 years ago. It was materially advanced by Boewe’s ability to explore archival resources in both Philadelphia and Lexington during his own extended residence in those cities where Rafinesque himself lived. Later, when based in South Asia, Boewe’s travels to and from the United States enabled him to seek out Rafinesque documents in European repositories. The result of these efforts was the discovery of hundreds of pages of fresh documentation in eight countries, written in four languages. All of this material, along with letters from the hitherto unknown Rafinesque family archives in Paris, is the foundation of this narration of the life of an early 19th-century naturalist and philologist. Includes a CD, “The Correspondence of C. S. Rafinesque.” Illus.