It gives me great pleasure to announce the publication of Vol. 17 (2019) of The Silk Road. We begin with a critical re-examination of Richthofen’s vaunted distinction as the inventor of the phrase “the Silk Road” and an in-depth interview with Roderick Whitfield on his career working with the Stein collection in the British Museum. Next up are stimulating features on the forgotten history of the Museo Indiano in Bologna, knotted carpets and cultural exchange along the Taklamakan, Sogdian fashions in early Tang China, modern Chinese colophons on the Dunhuang manuscripts, and a photo essay on camel fairs in India. Book reviews by Susan Whitfield, Samuel Rumschlag, Charles J. Halperin, and Barbara Kaim follow.
Did Richthofen Really Coin “the Silk Road”?
Matthias Mertens
An Interview with Roderick Whitfield on the Stein Collection in the British Museum
Sonya S. Lee
Faces of the Buddha: Lorenzo Pullè and the Museo Indiano in Bologna, 1907-35
Luca Villa
Some Notes on Sogdian Costume in Early Tang China
Sergey A. Yatsenko
An Analysis of Modern Chinese Colophons on the Dunhuang Manuscripts
Justin M. Jacobs
Camel Fairs in India: A Photo Essay
Harvey Follender