ASIA: 
Tmditwis and 
Treasures 
A Rare Offer to Members of the 
American Museum of Natural History 
A MAGNIFICENT BOOK 
For the first time, the Asian treasures in the 
vast collections of the American Museum of 
Natural History are unveiled in a majestic 
hard-covered volume: Asia: Traditions and 
Treasures by Walter A. Fairservis, Jr., with 
color photographs bv Lee Boltin. Asia— the 
mother of civilization — has fascinated the 
West for centuries. For the past 112 years, 
the Museum has assembled the greatest col- 
lection of Asian art, archeology, and ethno- 
logy in the Western Hemisphere. Part of 
the collection is now on display in the stun- 
ning new Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian 
Peoples at the American Museum. 
ASIAN TREASURES IN FULL COLOR 
The large-format book contains 96 superb 
full-color photographs of priceless Asian 
treasures: translucent jades, delicate ivories, 
silks and wrought brasses, worked gold and 
silver, richly woven rugs, statues of ter- 
rifying Buddhist demons, painted silk tapes- 
tries, and much, much more. 
RARE ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHS 
Asia: Traditions and Treasures is enriched 
with more than 100 fascinating nineteenth 
and early twentieth century photographs 
from the Museum’s archives, most never 
before published. These intimate pictures 
of people, street scenes, cities, and land- 
scapes are an invaluable glimpse of tradi- 
tional Asia— now lost forever. 
dwellers in the earliest villages of civilization to rugged Siberia 
nomads to powerful emperors ruling vast domains from the cent< 
of the world. The book is a love affair between a man and a cont 
nent. The author longs to return to Asia, and you will, too, aft< 
you experience Asia: Traditions and Treasures. 
A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY 
In evocative prose, Dr. Fairservis sweeps 
the reader across Asia, focusing on the 
masses of people and the so important land 
bridges between Asian countries. He 
weaves together the human story, from 
A LANDMARK PUBLICATION 
Asia: Traditions and Treasures is a landmark publication of tl 
American Museum. It celebrates the creation of the Hall of Asi 
Peoples, the largest exhibition of its kind in the West. The M 
seum and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., publishers of fine art books, ha 
jointly produced the book. It has been printed and bound with ca 
bv Asian craftsmen. 
