Oriental Rugs

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1900. First edition. Hardbound. VG- (Ex-art library, with spine label and few i.d. marks and interior labels; outer leather spine is faded; covers have some scuffs; flyleaves have some aging; pages and illustrations are quite crisp and clean, and color plates are vivid.). Brown-red leather with gilt letters on spine, gilt decoration on both covers; gilt edges all around; xvi + 278 pp., 24 tissue-guarded plates, 2 maps, textile table, index. "The purposes of this book are: First, to consider the deep and enjoyable meaning of Oriental floor coverings; second, to throw light upon the life and work of the weavers; third, to dispel, so far as lies within the power of the author, the obscurity in which the subject has hitherto been involved, and place the reader in possession of such information regarding the rugs, both genuine and spurious, now generally offered for sale in American markets, as shall, in a measure at least, deliver him from the mercy of the decorator, the salesman nd the auctioneer; fourth, to emphasize the superiority of the old vegetable dyes, the true Oriental coloring; finally, to give an idea of what constitutes true value, of the comparative worth of the various Oriental weavings, and the means of distinguishing them." (introd) Whew! A mighty copy of an early favorite.