History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 1

Henry Beauchamp WaltersProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
120

Tags

English Originals Historical GeographyCrafts Human GeographyAncient PotteryClassical ArtsPorcelain AppreciationArt CollectionWestern ThoughtIllustrated GuideAcademic MonographArchaeological StudyMediterranean Civilization

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 1 (of 2) by Birch et al.Author: Walters, H. B. (Henry Beauchamp), 1867-1944,Language: English, Class: NK: Fine Arts: Decorative and Applied Arts, Decoration and Ornament, Release Date: Feb 7, 2015

Editor's review

This is the first volume of Walters's two-volume History of Ancient Pottery, released as a free electronic edition by Project Gutenberg and belonging to the public-domain scholarly literature on classical and decorative art. It systematically traces the development of ancient Greek, Etruscan, and Roman pottery, covering such foundational topics as vessel shapes, ornament, production techniques, and regional styles, and is well suited as an introductory reference for understanding the Western tradition of ancient pottery. As a work of scholarship a century old, its prose has the plain manner of early archaeology; its terminology and classificatory framework remain useful for reference, though some of its dating and material are no longer current. It is best read as a primary document in the history of scholarship rather than a quick-reference picture book; readers are advised to use it alongside museum collection catalogues or contemporary works on ceramic archaeology, proceeding chapter by chapter in a quiet setting for study, the better to appreciate the orderliness of its organization of evidence and the early shape of classical art studies.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the introduction and table of contents, establish the framework of the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman sections, then read chapter by chapter.
  2. Keep a notebook for vessel-shape names and ornamental terminology, and use online museum collection catalogues for comparison.
  3. Read the two volumes in order: the first lays the foundation, the second continues with specific topics; avoid skipping, which breaks the thread of the argument.
  4. Where early dating statements appear, mark them as uncertain and reserve them for cross-checking against contemporary works on ceramic archaeology.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
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  25. 25
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  29. 29
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  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
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  37. 37
  38. 38
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  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
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  80. 80
  81. 81
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  85. 85
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  87. 87
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  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
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  96. 96
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  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
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  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116
  117. 117
  118. 118
  119. 119
  120. 120

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English? How demanding is it to read? The original is in English, released as an electronic edition by Project Gutenberg. The content is scholarly general history with a good deal of terminology, and it requires some ability to read English; readers with university-level English and a familiarity with basic art-historical vocabulary can work through it fairly smoothly.
Which volume should I read first, the first or the second? It is advisable to begin with the first volume. The first establishes the overall framework and basic classification of ancient pottery, and the second builds on it with more specific topical discussion. Reading them in order helps in following the author's organizing logic; starting with the second volume makes it easy to lose one's bearings on terminology and classification.
Does the book contain many illustrations or plates? As a public-domain electronic book, the text is primarily discursive, and the presentation of plates is limited by the manner of digitization. For direct images of vessel shapes and ornament, it is advisable to read alongside online museum collections or pottery catalogues; the book should not be used as a picture book.
Does this century-old book still have reference value today? Yes, but it should be positioned as a document in the history of scholarship and a source for basic frameworks. Its organization of vessel classification, regional styles, and craft topics remains useful for reference, but some of its dating and material have been superseded by later research, and it is best used in comparison with contemporary results in ceramic archaeology.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Henry Beauchamp Walters Author · British · 1867–1944

Henry Beauchamp Walters (1867–1944) was a British classical archaeologist. Born in Oldham, he was educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, and later worked for many years at the British Museum, where he served as Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities from 1925. Three of his works are held here, including the two-volume History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman and Church Bells. The former systematically surveys the forms and development of ancient pottery and remains an important reference in classical archaeology, while the latter reflects his sustained study of church bells. His writings are object-based and attentive to typology and dating, offering solid foundational work in their fields.