| Catalogues |
| Books by Title |
| Books by Author |
| Books by Country |
| Downloads |
| Complete 2008 Catalogue |
| Catalogue des édition francaise |
| Other Services |
| Book Sourcing |
| Private Publishing |
| Book Binding |
| Book Distribution |
| Distributed Titles |
| About Us |
| Our Bookshop |
| Our History |
| Events |
| Recent Releases |
| Orchid Press Publishing has a wide collection of well illustrated books, appealing to both the layman and the scholar, and written by specialists. Recent releases are available in the libraries below. |
ORCHID BOOKS
|
| Buddhist Temple Life in Laos: Wat Lok Po Luang by Ilse & Birgit Schrama, with photography by Ilse Schrama First edition 2005 128 pp., 130 colour plates, map, 17.5 x 24.5 cm., hardcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-073-7 $26.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-073-5 A sensitively written and beautifully presented photographic essay exploring the lives of a community of Buddhist monks and nuns, young and old, in Laos. The authors' sincere interest was rewarded with candid comments and intimate photographs of the daily routines of these dedicated followers of the 2,500 year old Theravada tradition. The result is a unique record of some of the less obvious facets of the devotees' lives of hardship and joy, as lived in their temple-Wat Lok Pa Luang-on the outskirts of Laos' capital city, Vientiane. [Read translated reviews of the Dutch version of this book] |
| Eastern Tibet: Bridging Tibet and China by Christoph Baumer & Therese Weber First English Edition 2005. xii, 244 pp., 4 maps, 13 monochrome and 256 col. pl., notes, bibliography, index, 31 x 24 cm., hardcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-064-8 $60.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-064-3 Eastern Tibet is the cradle of Tibetan culture. Here, in Kham and Amdo, due both to an intense exchange with the neighbouring regions beginning in Neolithic times and to the inward migration of various peoples, several cultural forms emerged. Archaeological finds from tombs related to Hellenistic, Iranian, Sogdian and Chinese cultures testify to the cultural richness of this area in those days. In the first millennium of our era Eastern Tibet reached international relevance as three branches of the Silk Road passed through its borders. Eastern Tibet, since the 9th century CE, has also been a centre of religious spirituality, which has maintained its significance until the present day. The almost 10,000 nuns and monks studying at the monastic University of Larung Gar-unfortunately partially destroyed in 2001-and the Amdo roots of present XIV th Dalai Lama, are the most prominent testimonials of this centuries-old tradition. The holistic philosophy of life of the people of Eastern Tibet is shaped by the region's spirituality, its untouched landscapes and its precious cultural treasures. This book, illustrated with more than 250 extraordinary colour photographs, is the first study dedicated solely to the culture of Eastern Tibet. It fills an important gap, not the least because more Tibetans live in Kham and Amdo than in the so-called 'Tibetan Autonomous Region'. The thoroughly researched text is the result of fieldwork conducted by both authors over a period of several years. The brilliant and inspiring images feature people, landscapes and cultural objects often documented for the first time. |
Hayagriva: Horse Culture in Asia |
Lao Close Encounters |
| The Naga of Burma by Jamie Saul with photography by Dominique Viallard 2005. 214 pp., 213 col. pl., 12 b&w pl., 56 sketches, 3 maps, notes, bibliography, index, 22 x 23 cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-065-6 $36.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-065-0 In the words of Alan Macfarlane, Professor of Anthropological Science in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, '. there has long been a largely empty tract covering the eastern half of the Naga area. Because Burma has long been almost closed to visitors, including anthropologists, the rich materials on Naga culture from that area have remained un-recorded and unknown. It is as a contribution to filling in the facts on this area in particular, but also for the light it throws back on the Assam Naga, that we can welcome Jamie Saul's monograph as a major addition to the ethnography of the Naga peoples.' This book is the result of over 30 years of study by the author on the Burmese Naga groups inhabiting the area ranging between the Chindwin River and the international border with India. Building up on a base of unpublished official tour diaries and reports dating from the 1800s, the author made several visits to the Naga regions on both sides of the border and carried out research among the Naga, establishing contacts and encouraging Nagas themselves to co-operate in the gathering of the materials that form the basis of this book. A wide range of excellent colour illustrations by Dominique Viallard complement the text and, along with sketches relating to the text, provide a visual record of the numerous groups found throughout the Burmese Naga region. The book introduces the Naga at their New Year festival held at Lahe and then moves on to chapters dealing with the breakdown of the different groups and their linguistic connections according to recent research, as well as covering other aspects such as tattoo, costume, architecture, social structure, life cycle, religion and festivals, arts and crafts, human sacrifice, lycanthropy, warfare and head-hunting. [Read a review from the Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences of SE Asia and Oceania] |
|
INDIVIDUAL TITLES
|
| Down The Rat Hole: Adventures Underground on the Burma Frontier by Edith Mirante 2005. 192 pp., 3 colour plates, 3 maps, 215 x 15 cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-050-8 $21.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-050-6 A new memoir of the author’s journeys among the brave indigenous peoples of some of Asia’s most remote and violent regions. Knowledgeably obsessed with Burma’s struggle for freedom, American artist/activist Mirante breaks laws and infiltrates borders, in impassioned journeys of discovery that take her through China, India, Laos, and chaotic Bangladesh. Down the Rat Hole is a wild and exotic headlong plunge into a hidden world of guerrilla warfare, heroin and jade trading, the AIDS pandemic, rainforest destruction, strikes and rioting, and one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th Century. [Read a review from the South China Morning Post] [Read a review from the Irrawaddy Magazine] |
| Khmer Costumes and Ornaments: After the Devata of Angkor Wat by Sappho Marchal ( translated from French by Merrily Hansen) First English edition Orchid Press 2005. (1st French edition, 1927) 128 pp., 44 b&w pl., including numerous line drawings, 21.5 x 15 cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-057-5 $16.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-057-5 The artist Sappho Marchal was the daughter of the renowned French conservator of Angkor, Henri Marchal. She spent the early years of her life in Cambodia, surrounded by the magnificent ruins of the Khmers, and produced the present study at age 23. Her fine line drawings present the myriad details of ornament and costume depicted on the stone reliefs of Angkor Wat with a clarity that could not be captured, even then, on film. Since that time, many of the stone carvings have severely deteriorated, rendering Marchal's drawings all the more valuable as a record for present-day students and restorers of Angkor. [Read a review from the Journal of the Siam Society] [Read a review from Cambodia Book Reviews] [Read a review from Amazon.com] [Read a review from The Nation] |
| Let's Speak Lao by James Higbie 2005. 230 pp., 17.5 x 10.5 cm., includes CD ROM, Softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-067-2 $15.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-0674- Loas, blessed with rich cultural traditions, natural beauty and a warm and hospitable population, is still, remarkably, 'off the beaten track' as far as the hordes of tourists one encounters elsewhere in SE Asia. For the new arrival, Lets Speak Lao is the only tool the visitor will need to start to communicate with Lao people. This is a phrasebook / dictionary with a difference-in addition to tackling all of the needed topics from greetings to shopping, food and drink, accommodation and transport, each copy contains a mini-CD ROM containing over 20 minutes of carefully structured pronunciation lessons, presented by the author, a veteran language trainer, together with native speakers. Also a must for visitors to NE Thailand's Isaan region, where the predominant language is Lao. Download a sample MP3 file of the first CD track (2 MBytes) |
| Let's Speak Thai by James Higbie 2005. 217 pp., 17.5 x 10.5 cm., includes CD ROM, Softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-066-4 $15.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-066-7 For the new arrival to Thailand , nothing seems more impenetrable than the local language. Phrasebooks abound, but how does one begin to master the unique sounds of the language, required of the very first Thai words the visitor attempts? Let's Speak Thai is a phrasebook / dictionary with a difference. In addition to tackling all of the needed topics from greetings to shopping, food and drink, accommodation and transport, each copy includes a mini-CD ROM containing over 20 minutes of carefully structured pronunciation lessons, presented by the author, a veteran language trainer, together with native speakers. Featuring in addition an explanation of basic grammatical structures, all words and phrases in English / phonetic / Thai script and a 140 page dictionary, this is the only tool that the visitor will require to start communicating in Thailand. Download an MP3 file of the first CD track (2 MBytes) |
| Religion as History—Religion as Myth by David Snellgrove 1st edition 2005. 160 pp., 21.5 x 15cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-070-2 $18.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-070-4 An eminent scholar's critical examination of the teachings of some major religions, but primarily Christianity and Buddhism, to a lesser extent Islam and Judaism. The author's main thesis is that no religion can claim to be the only true religion without involving human society either in bitter conflict or in merciless persecution. Furthermore the author illustrates how such claims to absolute truth are often based on doctrines which may have little or nothing to do with teachings of the founder of a particular religion and which in terms of present-day knowledge of the history of the human race are no longer tenable. However, the primary interests of the author concern Buddhism, especially as related in its origins in the remarkable mystical insights of early Brahmanical sages. In the last section of this book, he treats the Buddhist and Brahmanical ways of salvation as a quest which parallels and might well usefully inspire the researches of present-day scientists who probe the mysteries of time and space. |
| Siamese Bestiary: written & illustrated by Kristiaan Inwood (1978) 2005 Second revised edition, index, 136 pp., 70 b&w drawings, 25.5 x 19 cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-058-3 $23.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-058- Thailand. The name evokes images of golden pagodas, emerald rice fields, jungled mountains, a happy, gregarious people. Siamese Bestiary reveals another aspect of Thailand-the intimate co-existence shared by animal and human life in the tropics. Lizards play hide-and-seek on walls and ceilings; frogs colonize bathrooms and crabs doze behind water jars; turtles make nocturnal visits; snakes take short cuts through kitchens; catfish walk from one pond to another... Blending anecdote, observation and humour in this unusual and attractive volume, the author lovingly chronicles and depicts the antics of animal and human characters in and around his Thai home. [Read a review & excerpts from Bangkok Airways In-flight Magazine] [Read a review from The Nation] [Read a second review from The Nation] [Read a review from The Bangkok Post] |
| Princely States of India: A Guide to Chronology and Rulers by David Henige 2004. 230 pp., one colour plate, index, 21.5 x 15 cm., hardcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-049-4 $29.50 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-049-0 In both magnitude and length of time the Princely States of India represented both the paradigm for, and acme of, the British imperial policy of Indirect Rule, whereunder the ’traditional’ ruling classes were expected to assume the burden of administration. By Independence in 1947 the Government of India recognized nearly 600 entities varying from the size of the United Kingdom, to several that consisted of a single village within less than a square mile. In providing a carefully assembled chronology of the leaders of the 290 most significant of these states, the author makes available a new and valuable tool for all scholars of South Asia, as well as Sikkim and the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, in the colonial period. |
|
BIBLIOTHECA ASIATICA
|
| In Farthest Burma: The record of an Arduous Journey of Exploration and Research through the Unknown Territory of Burma and Tibet by Frank Kingdon-Ward Second edition Orchid Press 2005 (first edition Seeley 1921), 192 pp., 2 maps and 23 b & w pl., appendices, index, 29 x 21 cm., softbound. ISBN-10: 974-524-062-1 $26.00 ISBN-13: 978974-524-062-9 Records the 1914 expedition of Kingdon-Ward, the famed plant-collector and explorer, along the eastern branch of Burma's great Irrawaddy River. A classic travel and botany account, told in the author's inimitable style, with much vivid description of both the populace and flora of this still remote region. One of Kingdon-Ward's scarcest titles. [Read more about the life of Frank Kingdon-Ward] |
| Bhikkhu: Disciple of the Buddha by Kristiaan Inwood Second revised printing Orchid Press 2005 (1st ed. privately Printed 1981). 208 pp., 178 b&w pl., 21.5 x 15 cm., softcover. ISBN-10: 974-524-059-1 $22.00 ISBN-13: 978-974-524-059-9 Records the first monastic year of a 38-year-old Californian who was ordained in a Thai Buddhist monastery. The Californian neither sought nor received special privileges. In every detail, he lived the celibate and abstemious life of the orthodox Theravadin bhikkhu, and embarked on a spiritual quest as relevant in today's troubled world as it was 2,500 years ago when the Buddha taught the original bhikkhus. In many respects, the Californian's story is as old as Buddhism itself. In others it is as modern as tomorrow. [Read a review of from The Phuket Gazette] [Read a review of from The Nation] |
Editorial office: PO Box 13447, General PO, Central, Hong Kong
Operations: PO Box 19, Yuttitham Post Office, Bangkok 10907, Thailand
Telephone: +66 (0) 2930-0149, 2939-0973 Fax: +66 (0) 2930-5646