Original Artwork Books

I first picked this book up at a library about ten years ago and it piqued my interest in Celtic studies.

"Celtic Mythology" is a well researched and written book that keeps the reader's interest with intricately woven tales and photographs of Celtic artefacts.

My only lament is that this book is no longer in print.

I am Japanese archaeologist living in London. I want to publish my book about relationship between Japanese mythology and archaeology. It means how to get a proof certain japanese mythology(mostly shinto related) through hard evidence of archaeological excavation in Japan. If someone help me in terms of publishing in US about this subject, for example I need a critics about my article and give me a guide line for publishing any form in US, please get in touch with me.My name is Kazuo and my e-mail is " SarEngland7@aol.com "

This is an excellent, if somewhat dated, book about the myths, legends and religions of the South Pacific. The introduction gives an overview of the various peoples and culture groups of Oceania, including the Australian aborigines (the indigenous people of Australia), the Melanesians (darker skinned people of New Guinea and other parts of the western Pacific), the Micronesians (the native people of the small islands in the north west Pacific just east of the Philippines) and the Polynesians (the fair skinned people native to most of Oceania, including New Zealand, Hawaii, Easter Island, Samoa and so forth). These distinctions aren't always accurate and aren't quite PC, but they do give a good idea of the general range that is covered, and allow the author to focus on common themes in specific areas. Theres also a wonderful map that shows the culture area and (in the case of New Guinea) goes into tribal territories.
From there, it goes on to focus on myths by area, starting off with the Polynesians. It gives a nice overview of the highly organized and structured society that the Polynesians lived in (until the coming of the Europeans that is), and the important social positions of the ali'i (chiefs), kahunas (shaman/priests), arioi (entertaines) and so forth held. Mixed in with the creation stories and tales of Gods and Heroes like Tu, Tane, Rongo, Tangaroa, Pele, Hina and Maui, we are given a wealth of illustrations and photos. There are excellent examples of hei-tikis, featherwork, the stone heads of Easter Island, Maori carvings and designs, and numerous other Polynesian crafts. Following this we go into a brief exploration of the Chamorro and other peoples of Micronesia. Here the main focus was on trickster heroes like Olifat, Motikitik and Nareau. Again, there are some great pictures, including wooden boats from New Ireland, navigation charts, boars tusks and stone disks from the Yap Islanders and such. More material is available in the next chapter, which covers the Melanesians. The introduction does a good job of pointing out just how diverse Melanesian society is. Various common themes, such as snakes, hero twins, culture heros and the fate of the souls after death (the Melanesians have a complex theology with multiple souls and both reincarnation and afterlifes) are explored. Some wonderful example of Melanesian art, including some pieces from the Sepik River region, are shown. And finally the book closes out with Aboriginal myths and talks about the sacred male-dominated rites of the Koori, the importance of the Dreamtime, totemism, initations, and numerous myths. I'm somewhat mixed about depicting sacred rites, sites and objects (that is somewhat demeaning), but the dot art is really wonderful.
Overall, this is a pretty good book and I would recommend it to you, but you should be aware a more recent revision was issued in the 80s, with some expanded material. Eiter one is nice enough, assuming that you can get your hands on it. Its a nice introduction to Huna, the Dreamtime and other aspects of Pacific Islander religion and mythology.

One has to give credit to Ms. Nicholson for taking on the daunting task of giving an introduction to not simply Mayan and Aztec religion, but to Central-American mythology as a whole. Nicholson draws upon a variety of sources to present a guide to the ancient cultures, the rituals and tenets of the various religious systems, and a fair sampling of the art, handcrafts and architecture that make the ancient cultures of Central America so fascinating. Even so, Nicholson seems to have a tendency to force her own ideologies on these belief-systems, characterizing the god Quetzalcoatl as a Christ figure, for example, or by comparing his warrior cult of the jaguars to the Knights Templar. At other places, Nicholson comes across as naiive, especially when her conclusions are compared with the results of contemporary archeological findings. Her premise that the Mayans were fundamentally peaceful and opposed to the idea of human sacrifice is discredited by strong evidence to the contrary. And her conclusion, for example, that the recumbent Chac-mul statue at the temple of the warriors at Chichen-Itza bears a hollow area in order to collect rainwater is laughable in light of recent findings which conclusively prove that its true purpose was to catch the hearts of victims of human sacrifice during blood/fertility rituals. More reliable data on the Mayans can be found in Michael D. Coe's "The Maya."

I give this book three stars for the art only. It is filled with many black and white photos of beautiful Roman artwork, mostly sculpture. Because of this, and the generally reasonable price you can obtain this book for, I highly recommend it to artists and lovers of art.

However, the literary content is very disappointing. In general, Perowne has all the facts correct. It is the way he presents them. At every opportunity, this author shows tremendous contempt for Roman religion. It is only near the end of the book, as the subject matter begins to glide into the introduction of Christianity into Rome, that our author becomes inspired.

Perowne's discussion of Augustus and his era is somewhat uplifting. It is obvious that he admires this particular period. But if you desire a book that gives a dispassionate look at Roman religion, this is not that book. The author despises the subject.