Foreshadowing Twenty First Century Art

a.k.a. the RugBook

Alexander, Christopher A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art New York 1993. Paperback. The color and geometry of very early Turkish carpets. Illustrated by 98 color plates, 500 b/w. ISBN 0-19-520866-8

From the cover ...

... This book makes an important contribution to the world of carpet scholarship. It contains the first coherent theory of structure of carpet designs, and contains much material that anticipates Alexander's general theory of order which will appear in the forthcoming volume of that name. (NatureOfOrder)

Equally important, Alexander's thoughtful meditations on these carpets will fascinate the many architects, artists, and planners who follow his work.

It's an expensive (~$US 140) coffee table book, beautifully printed.

Is it a coffee-table book? That would suggest to me looking at the pictures but not reading the text. Well, I don't think I'll ever tire of looking at the pictures, but the text packs a lot of deep ideas into a fairly small space. If this is, at it would seem to be, a prologue for NatureOfOrder, then the latter will be a must-buy. -- KeithBraithwaite

It was reprinted in 1998 or 1999, but the quality of the new bindings doesn't compare with the original.

I just looked for it on http://www.abebooks.com and http://www.bibliofind.com (Two great multiple-vendor used-book search services) and found one copy, for $175.00. Ouch.

I found one, thanks. Oxford University Press London keeps a small stock. -- MartineDevos.

A copy has just arrived with me via Amazon. I'd previously not been able to justify the price (~£100) to myself, but then I thought: what the hell. This is a great book. It's interesting to hear about the reprint. Mine must be one of those and I can believe that it isn't a well put to gether as previous printings, the binding is a bit wobbly. But the content is superb.

CategoryBook.