In An Atlas of the Himalayas by a 19th Century Tibetan Lama, Diana Lange analyzes a nineteenth-century collection of watercolor illustrations, map-like paintings, and inscriptions. Taken together, these materials “represent the largest panoramic map of mid-nineteenth-century Tibet of its time” (p. 1). Based on Lange's assessment of a number of primary and secondary sources, this collection was produced by a still-unnamed Tibetan draftsman and cartographer, who, she suggests, was part of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and originally from Central Tibet (pp. 30–37). Lange's interdisciplinary study of this massive collection, now housed in the British Library as the Wise Collection, provides a social history and thorough annotation of the material. In terms of social history, Lange pursues questions related not only to the synchronic moment of the collection's commission and creation but also to more diachronic concerns about shifts in ownership over time.
Lange also provides an exhaustive...
