Customer Reviews

Worlds Within Worlds: The Richard Rosenblum Collection of Chinese Scholars' Rocks

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Having become interested recently in the art of Chinese scholar's rocks, I found it difficult to find much literature on the topic. What a wonderful delight it was to discover this book! As a catalogue for the collection and a scholarly examination of the many aspects of these stones, my appreciation and knowledge of the art has risen dramatically. The essays are thorough and well-written, and the photos are almost as good as the real thing. Having seen some of these pieces in museums, but knowing very little about them and their histories, it was enlightening to get such vast amounts of information on each piece in the catalogue. I encourage anyone who is interested in these stones to give it a try.

WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS is a thoughtful, scholarly work that provides in-depth, intriguing information on the stones, via the essays that make up the first part of the book. The second part catalogs the exhibit, with clear photos and detailed descriptions. The book is now out-of-print, but it is well worth acquiring since there is probably no other text in English that gives so much information on the stones while setting them within their historical, philosophical, and artistic contexts.

Chinese Scholars' Rocks are magical but the information here is technical, providing detail and observation that goes far beyond casual observation. If you're interested in the geology and the science as well as the art, you will find this book fascinating.

Scholars' stones are magic objects. They open the mind to the realms of poetry, of religion and mythology, of literature and philosophy, of art. This magic is quite destroyed by this book's massive erudition. It is like a too ambitious teacher of literature who destroys poetry by analysing and disecting it. The illustrations are meager, they are after all of secondary importance - the only satisfying one is on the front cover. This book is recommended for all those who are not interested in the magic of its subject.