Member: shikari
CollectionsYour library (3), General library (580), Art History (86), Classics and Byzantine (1,407), Linguistics and Language (294), Academic and Historiographical (77), Oceanography (18), ELT (14), Orientalistik (810), Philosophy (145), Sheet Music (2), Frances' books (39), Family (8), Currently reading (5), Fumetti (6), Once owned but disposed of (24), All collections (3,080)
Reviews26 reviews
Tagsclassics (1,239), As New (582), VG (481), greek literature (374), As New/As New (313), --/VG (309), ancient history (262), NF (261), late antiquity (257), latin literature (252) — see all tags
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About meOrientalist and Late Antiquarian. My MA dissertation was on Procopius' Sasanian ethnography and its echoes of Herodotus. Current work is on pre-Islamic Arabia.

visited 37 states (16.4%)
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About my libraryA mix of Classics, Orientalistik (Arabic, Persian, Syriac, Hebrew and Armenian with some Turkic and Indian materials), Language materials and general literary works. There is also a reasonable collection of books on Central Asian history.
The Classics materials are mostly related to Late Antique historiography, rhetoric and Greek drama (with a good uncatalogued section on satyr drama).
The Arabic section has a number of works on Nabati poetry, a particular interest of mine. These, like most of the library, are still in storage, however, and are not yet catalogued.
The Library catalogue is divided into several collections (books can appear in several):-
Classics and Byzantine on the Graeco-Roman world;
Orientalistik for oriental and near-Eastern cultures and languages and for biblical studies;
Linguistics and Language for non-Classical linguistics;
General library contains all non-classified including literature and poetry;
Academic and Historiographical contains books on literary theory, post-Classical historiography etc.;
Oceanography materials for offshore work;
Sheet Music is small but self-explanatory;
Frances' books is a collection of books that I gave to or were left to me by my dearest friend, a victim of cancer.
All catalogued books are paper books I own or owned at the time of cataloguing. Electronic books are not listed in this catalogue (a subset are catalogued under the catalogue name shikari-electronica).
Oh, I'm a terrible Loeb addict and have just become an addict of the C. H. Beck Wissen series.
GroupsAncient History, Arab, North African and Middle Eastern Literature, Byzantinistik, Coptic, Let's Learn Armenian, Syriac: ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Zoroastrianism
Favorite authorsAdonis, Fernand Braudel, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Peter Levi, Lucian, Andrew Marvell, Theodor Nöldeke, Anthony Powell, Edward Thomas (Shared favorites)
VenuesFavorites
Favorite bookstoresAlbion Beatnik, Blackwell's Oxford, Burgersdijk & Niermans, Daunt Books - Marylebone, De Slegte Den Haag, Judd Books, The Book House, The Classics Bookshop
Favorite librariesBibliotheca Alexandrina, Bodleian Oriental Institute Library (OIL), Oxford University, Indian Institute Library, Oxford University, Institute of Classical Studies Library / Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, Sackler Library, Oxford University, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Library, University of London, Warburg Institute Library, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, Wellcome Library
Homepagehttp://shikariana.wordpress.com/
Real nameJohn
LocationOxford, England
Account typepublic, lifetime
URLs
http://www.librarything.com/profile/shikari (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/shikari (library)
Member sinceMay 5, 2009
Currently readingJohn Caius and the Manuscripts of Galen (Supplementary volume) by Vivian Nutton
Maṣādir al-shiʻr al-Jāhilī wa-qīmatuhā al-tārīkhīyah by Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Asad
Rêves de Femmes: Une enfance au harem by Fatima Mernissi
Gregorii Barhebræi Chronicon syriacum, e codd. mss. emendatum ac punctis vocalibus adnotationibusque locupletatum by Gregorius Bar Hebraeus
Herodoti Historiae Libri I-IV (Edito Tertia, Tomus Prior) by Herodotus
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posted by webadr31 at 2:25 pm (EST) on Jan 12, 2013
posted by Athina at 9:52 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2012
posted by CJW at 10:52 pm (EST) on Dec 18, 2012
posted by CJW at 4:02 am (EST) on Dec 18, 2012
posted by Athina at 11:46 am (EST) on Dec 9, 2012
Once I read De Administrando Imperio (I have the Dumbarton Oaks edition) I may get so enthused that I decide to splurge on it but for the time being I'll hold off.
Curt
posted by cemanuel at 8:21 am (EST) on Dec 2, 2012
Your comments are very useful and Volume 2 will definately be along the lines you suggest.
Another book of literary pieces would only be repetition and would serve no useful purpose, so look out for volume two, probably early next year.
TT
posted by TheTortoise at 5:44 am (EST) on Jul 4, 2012
Yes, my wife Tamara is a Russian national and is a teacher of Russian. The book came about as a result of discovering the dearth of really good resources for her Intermediate students.
She is currently in Russia, but on her return will begin work on Volume 2!
Hope you find it useful.
TT
posted by TheTortoise at 6:20 am (EST) on Jul 3, 2012
I notice you have a copy of The New Penguin Russian Course by Nicholas J Brown, which I also have and learned from.
Are you still studying Russian? If so, you might find Practical Russian Reader helpful. It is a new book of Russian short stories with helpful exercises.
Let me know what you think of it?
TT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Russian-Reader-Vol-1-Intermediate/dp/147013979...
posted by TheTortoise at 7:08 am (EST) on Jul 2, 2012
posted by a_radical_abacus at 7:53 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2012
posted by cemanuel at 2:19 pm (EST) on Jan 25, 2012
posted by PrissBNS at 5:10 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2011
posted by aulsmith at 2:45 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2011
just out of interest, are you a surveyor (as well) or is your fugro connection a different one? It is not often i hear about someone working offshore who is into the classics (me neither though i do appreciate ancient roman, greek and egyptian culture / architecture)
As to my English, after writing and teaching for so many years i actually do manage to get a few correct phrases in every now and then. the grammar does keep bugging me though (should have paid more attention during my English classes)
btw i see you do not own one of the hydrography 'classics' yet - which i edited together with a colleague - the handbook of offshore surveing ;-)
posted by hydrografie at 4:41 pm (EST) on Dec 5, 2011
posted by hydrografie at 5:06 am (EST) on Dec 3, 2011
posted by troelsmyrup at 4:28 am (EST) on Nov 15, 2011
posted by keigu at 1:53 pm (EST) on Oct 3, 2011
I found your library interesting because of the number of interests we share and because you live in Oxford. That is one of the places I love most in the world.
I do apologize for this truncated and not-very-informative reply, but I did not want to leave your question unanswered any longer, and this is all the time I have for the moment.
posted by Kathleen828 at 6:52 pm (EST) on Apr 18, 2011
posted by BarkingMatt at 12:59 pm (EST) on Feb 20, 2011
posted by unittj at 3:14 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2010
I'm still a young thing (a first-year undergraduate student), so it's still tricky to round up the money for complete sets. I have a workable library on site, though, so it's not much of a problem. I've picked up a few of the books already - they'd been remaindered. They're pretty neat little things.
Thank you for the recommendation. I'll keep it in mind, but I'm so busy flitting through things - I might get embarrassed if you call me up on it later only to find that I've been reading on something far afield (or worse, something trashy). I'm surprised to find that it was only this spring that I finished Rome and the Arabs. It feels like it has been an eternity.
Thanks again,
Alexander
posted by AlexBMM at 11:20 pm (EST) on Nov 19, 2010
[Hafez]. I donʻt know much about
him -- not even what was his
language. But I always
wondered if the [Rudyard
Kipling] poem "Certain Maxims
of Hafez" had any connection
with the real Hafez. (I rather
hoped NOT, having some
respect for Hafez, and little
for Kipling.
By having a "Connection", I mean
for example that it might be like
Ive read that Fitzgeraldʻs
[Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam]
is: a long way from the original
but didnʻt have to be called
an adaptation or just Fitzgeraldʻs
own poem.
In translating [Hafez], what language
are you working
with? and secondarily do you
know whether the Kipling
["Certain Maxims"] is a Kil;ing
work, an adaptation, or an
attempt at actual translation?
posted by rolandperkins at 4:48 pm (EST) on Nov 19, 2010
posted by AlexBMM at 8:47 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2010
posted by keigu at 4:36 pm (EST) on Oct 20, 2010
posted by chriscross at 3:30 pm (EST) on Oct 17, 2010
posted by deeannl at 2:51 am (EST) on Aug 24, 2010
posted by anthonywillard at 8:14 pm (EST) on Aug 17, 2010
There's a used bookstore I frequent that has several hundred Loebs but unfortunately most are moldy and smell so they will not visit my home. The ones that don't smell are in sets (like all 20 some odd volumes of Aristotle) which put them a bit out of reach, even used.
posted by Garp83 at 9:27 pm (EST) on May 25, 2010
posted by Garp83 at 7:46 pm (EST) on May 25, 2010
posted by cemanuel at 9:58 am (EST) on Apr 10, 2010
posted by cstebbins at 9:20 pm (EST) on Mar 4, 2010
posted by cemanuel at 7:10 pm (EST) on Feb 20, 2010
It's a wishlist for now so I don't know exactly what the book is but he was a 6th century Byzantine official - I'm most interested in his account of his diplomatic mission to the Persians. That was how a footnote led me to it. The book just came out and it's pretty pricy for under 200 pages but maybe I'll see it at a conference before long.
Curt
posted by cemanuel at 6:39 pm (EST) on Feb 20, 2010
posted by cstebbins at 10:57 pm (EST) on Feb 14, 2010
posted by cstebbins at 7:04 pm (EST) on Jan 26, 2010
posted by Tiesenhausen at 4:05 pm (EST) on Oct 26, 2009
posted by Tiesenhausen at 4:02 pm (EST) on Oct 26, 2009
posted by Totemica at 6:47 am (EST) on Oct 22, 2009