Naturalist and zoologist Walter Koelz traveled to Iran on a project of plant exploration (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture) from late 1939 to early 1941. With him were three companions: Rup Chand, Wangyel, and Rinchen Gialtsen. Together they brought back 3000 seed samples, 4000 herbarium specimens, and a collection of bird skins. Koelz’s diary of that journey is presented in this volume, with an introduction by Henry T. Wright. Includes dozens of black and white photos.

Containing more than 600 entries, this valuable resource presents all aspects of travel writing. There are entries on places and routes (Afghanistan, Black Sea, Egypt, Gobi Desert, Hawaii, Himalayas, Italy, Northwest Passage, Samarkand, Silk Route, Timbuktu), writers (Isabella Bird, Ibn Battuta, Bruce Chatwin, Gustave Flaubert, Mary Kingsley, Walter Ralegh, Wilfrid Thesiger), methods of transport and types of journey (balloon, camel, grand tour, hunting and big game expeditions, pilgrimage, space travel and exploration), genres (buccaneer narratives, guidebooks, New World chronicles, postcards), companies and societies (East India Company, Royal Geographical Society, Society of Dilettanti), and issues and themes (censorship, exile, orientalism, and tourism). For a full list of entries and contributors, a generous selection of sample entries, and more, visit the Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia website.

Only 100 years ago the main means of transportation in Iran was by quadruped. Transportation & Technology in Iran, 1800-1940, by renowned Iranian studies scholar Willem Floor is an in-depth, illustrated, four-part study of the subject. Until the 1920s Iran had no more than 700 kilometers of roads suitable for motor vehicles, which situation greatly impeded Iran's economic development. Caravans traveled 40 km/day, though travelers in a hurry could cover 150 km/day when using the courier system (chapar), which is the subject of part 1. Wheeled transportation, (in part 2 of the books) was rare and limited to only a few parts of country due to the lack of roads. This situation underwent change when carriages became popular in urban areas and on the few modern roads after 1890. Motorized transportation grew in importance after 1921 and really took off in the 1930s, with the construction of a new road network. As a result, newer, more powerful trucks reduced the cost of transportation significantly, thus lowering the cost of retail goods. The increase of motorized transport also meant that car dealers, import rules, mechanics, garages, supply of spare parts, and gasoline distribution as well as traffic regulations had to be created ex nihilo; All these processes are detailed in the book. Like cars, bicycles and motorcycles also were increasingly used as of the 1920s, thus increasing choice in people's mobility. More road traffic also implied that travelers needed places to spend the night and eat. The change from caravanserais to guest-houses and hotels is discussed in part 3. These changes in transportation methods did not come alone, for other modern tools of change such as the sewing machine and the typewriter also made their appearance and had a major impact on people's availability and use of time. Finally, the piano made its entry onto the Iranian musical scene, and although not perfectly in tune with the traditional Iranian musical system, it is now as much part of music making in Iran as the tar and santur (part 4 of the book). All these changes and new technologies did not happen overnight or without problems, and slow adoption initially was limited to the upper-class. However, with falling prices and changing needs and policies these new technologies eventually reached a larger public and the idea that they once were 'exotic' and 'out of reach' is now inconceivable to Iranians. The studies in this book provide a new vantage point and understanding of the transfer of modern technology for scholars of the social-economic and cultural history of the Middle East.

From ancient times to the present day, Iranian social, political, and economic life has been dramatically influenced by psychoactive agents. This book looks at the stimulants that, as put by a longtime resident of seventeenth-century Iran, Raphaël du Mans, provided Iranians with damagh, gave them a "kick," got them into a good mood. By tracing their historical trajectory and the role they played in early modern Iranian society (1500-1900), Rudi Matthee takes a major step in extending contemporary debates on the role of drugs and stimulants in shaping the modern West. At once panoramic and richly detailed, The Pursuit of Pleasure examines both the intoxicants known since ancient times--wine and opiates--and the stimulants introduced later--tobacco, coffee, and tea--from multiple angles. It brings together production, commerce, and consumption to reveal the forces behind the spread and popularity of these consumables, showing how Iranians adapted them to their own needs and tastes and integrated them into their everyday lives. Matthee further employs psychoactive substances as a portal for a set of broader issues in Iranian history--most notably, the tension between religious and secular leadership. Faced with reality, Iran's Shi`i ulama turned a blind eye to drug use as long as it stayed indoors and did not threaten the social order. Much of this flexibility remains visible underneath the uncompromising exterior of the current Islamic Republic.

In the fall of 1932, University of Michigan naturalist Walter N. Koelz traveled to northwest India to lead a scientific collecting expedition in the rugged Himalayan regions of Western Tibet. Some eighteen months later he returned to the United States with a remarkable collection of biological specimens and an array of objects—Buddhist paintings, ritual objects, textiles, and household goods—acquired from monasteries, households, and merchants. This book presents the diary entries Koelz wrote at the end of each day throughout his expedition, recounting in detail each day’s travels, bookended by a chapter contextualizing his acquisition of sacred Buddhist objects and an appendix that presents previously unpublished thangka paintings that he collected.

This richly illustrated volume examines the remarkable Kashmiri shawls of the Walter Koelz Collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. Part I presents the history, production, forms, and ornamentation of Kashmiri shawls, focusing on the impact of social contexts and the advent of the Jacquard loom on shawl development. Part II is a detailed descriptive catalogue of the shawls in the Koelz Collection. An accompanying CD-ROM includes color illustrations of the shawls in the collection as well as a transcribed manuscript by Koelz.