Dorje,Gyurme. — Tibetan elemental divination paintings. Illuminated manuscripts from the White Beryl of Sangs-rgyas rGya-mtsho with the Moonbeams treatise of Lo-chen Dharmasri. [Title on spine: The White Beryl].

London, John Eskenazi, Ltd. in association with Sa m Fogg, 2001. 432 pp. Col. ills. Orig. hardcover (orange-brown linen binding with light gray and black lettering). - This monumental book comes in an original large matching custom-made clamshell box with an extra lid. Folio. [Size box: 46 x 38 x 7 cm.]. - A very good copy.Commentary and translations by Gyurme Dorje. - This extraordinary publication represents a landmark in both Tibetan studies and the art of bookmaking. It presents for the first time two magnificent 18-century manuscripts illuminating in exquisite detail little-known practices of elemental divination as described in The White Beryl -- an important 17-century treatise written by Sangs-rgyas rGya-mtsho (1653-1705), regent to the Fifth Dalai Lama. The manuscripts depict the zodiac of Indian astrology, the cakra diagrams of martial conquest, and the elaborate charts of Chinese elemental divination. Accompanying the images is a detailed summary of the White Beryl text, an extensive commentary, and the first English translation of a related text known as Lo-chen Dharmasri's Moonbeams, a 17th-century verse treatise on Tibetan astrology. - Meticulously researched and produced to the highest standard, this book will be of immense interest not only to Tibetan scholars but to all those fascinated by Oriental art, religions and astrology.