National Treasures of Georgia


Book Description

"The introductory text of this book traces Georgia's long cultural history from its archaeological beginnings to the present. Twenty-three essays by scholars from all over the world give a vivid portrayal of Georgia's heritage in history, literature and manuscript production, archaeology and art throughout prehistoric, classical and Christian periods up to the Early Modern Era. Over 150 objects are presented and their range is vast: Neolithic ceramics, intricately worked Bronze and Iron Age gold and silver, Greek and Roman jewellery, richly illuminated manuscripts, medieval paintings, cloisonne enamel and gold repousse work, and embroidery are illustrated."--Jacket.




The Treasures of Georgia


Book Description




Oglethorpe's Dream


Book Description

Oglethorpe's Dream unites the award-winning photography of Diane Kirkland with the beautifully powerful writing of David Bottoms, Georgia's poet laureate. The result is a stunning portrait of the lands, waters, culture, and people of Georgia. From the sea islands to the cities, from the wiregrass to the mountain forests, Kirkland gives us a gallery of spectacular images showcasing the state in its breadth, beauty, and diversity. Marrying landscape to history, Bottoms gives voice to a people filled with courage, pain, conviction, and, above all, hope. Together they capture the natural beauty of the diverse landscape, the richness of the state's storied past, and the essence of its spirited people. "Isn't that what you always hoped for," Bottoms writes, "to find a place . . . and yourself in that place?" Oglethorpe's Dream helps us all to see a place called Georgia, and there to find something of ourselves. The publication of this book was made possible by the financial support of the State of Georgia, the leadership of Governor Roy E. Barnes, and the partnership of the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism, the Georgia Humanities Council, and the University of Georgia Press.




The Secret


Book Description

The tale begins over three-hundred years ago, when the Fair People—the goblins, fairies, dragons, and other fabled and fantastic creatures of a dozen lands—fled the Old World for the New, seeking haven from the ways of Man. With them came their precious jewels: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls... But then the Fair People vanished, taking with them their twelve fabulous treasures. And they remained hidden until now... Across North America, these twelve treasures, over ten-thousand dollars in precious jewels, are buried. The key to finding each can be found within the twelve full color paintings and verses of The Secret. Yet The Secret is much more than that. At long last, you can learn not only the whereabouts of the Fair People's treasure, but also the modern forms and hiding places of their descendants: the Toll Trolls, Maitre D'eamons, Elf Alphas, Tupperwerewolves, Freudian Sylphs, Culture Vultures, West Ghosts and other delightful creatures in the world around us. The Secret is a field guide to them all. Many "armchair treasure hunt" books have been published over the years, most notably Masquerade (1979) by British artist Kit Williams. Masquerade promised a jewel-encrusted golden hare to the first person to unravel the riddle that Williams cleverly hid in his art. In 1982, while everyone in Britain was still madly digging up hedgerows and pastures in search of the golden hare, The Secret: A Treasure Hunt was published in America. The previous year, author and publisher Byron Preiss had traveled to 12 locations in the continental U.S. (and possibly Canada) to secretly bury a dozen ceramic casques. Each casque contained a small key that could be redeemed for one of 12 jewels Preiss kept in a safe deposit box in New York. The key to finding the casques was to match one of 12 paintings to one of 12 poetic verses, solve the resulting riddle, and start digging. Since 1982, only two of the 12 casques have been recovered. The first was located in Grant Park, Chicago, in 1984 by a group of students. The second was unearthed in 2004 in Cleveland by two members of the Quest4Treasure forum. Preiss was killed in an auto accident in the summer of 2005, but the hunt for his casques continues.




Buried Treasures You Can Find


Book Description

Explains how to use a modern metal detector to find buried treasures, discussing types of detectors, detector operation, and types of treasure, and identifies a variety of sites in each of the fifty states.




Being a State and States of Being in Highland Georgia


Book Description

The highland region of the republic of Georgia, one of the former Soviet Socialist Republics, has long been legendary for its beauty. It is often assumed that the state has only made partial inroads into this region, and is mostly perceived as alien. Taking a fresh look at the Georgian highlands allows the author to consider perennial questions of citizenship, belonging, and mobility in a context that has otherwise been known only for its folkloric dimensions. Scrutinizing forms of identification with the state at its margins, as well as local encounters with the erratic Soviet and post-Soviet state, the author argues that citizenship is both a sought-after means of entitlement and a way of guarding against the state. This book not only challenges theories in the study of citizenship but also the axioms of integration in Western social sciences in general.




Roadside Geology of Georgia


Book Description

Ride along with geologists Pamela Gore and Bill Witherspoon on this extraordinary tour of the Peach State�s varied terrain. In 35 detailed and densely illustrated road guides, the Roadside Geology of Georgia examines Georgia�s fascinating geology and reveals the stories that lie beneath the surface. You�ll be amazed at Georgia�s geological diversity, from its shifting barrier islands along the coast to the sandstone ridges in its northwest corner. At the Cumberland Island National Seashore you�ll find the ruins of Dungeness, the once-magnificent Carnegie estate built of local mineral resources, and encounter wild horses grazing among windswept dunes. In Atlanta, the white whaleback of granite called Stone Mountain will impress you with its protruding �cat�s paw� minerals and stony layers that are sloughing off like the layers of an onion. In the Blue Ridge Mountains you can witness Amicalola Falls, one of the highest cascading waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, and Tallulah Gorge, one the deepest gorges in the eastern United States. And in the iconic Okefenokee Swamp of south Georgia, you�ll wade through the gator-filled blackwater of one of the largest wetlands in North America. With its engaging prose and 250-plus color photos, maps, and figures, Roadside Geology of Georgia takes you beyond the rocks to unearth the billion-year history of the Empire State of the South.




Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia


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Georgia


Book Description

Georgia: A State History, opens a window on our rich and sometimes tragic past and reveals to all of us the fascinating complexity of what it means to be a Georgian. Georgia's past has diverged from the nation's and given the state and its people a distinctive culture and character. Some of the best, and the worst, aspects of American and Southern history can be found in the story of what is arguably the most important state in the South. Yet just as clearly Georgia has not always followed the road traveled by the rest of the nation and the region. Explaining the common and divergent paths that make us who we are is one reason the Georgia Historical Society has collaborated with Buddy Sullivan and Arcadia Publishing to produce Georgia: A State History, the first full-length history of the state produced in nearly a generation. Sullivan's lively account draws upon the vast archival and photographic collections of the Georgia Historical Society to trace the development of Georgia's politics, economy, and society and relates the stories of the people, both great and small, who shaped our destiny.




Sacred and Stolen


Book Description

Sacred and Stolen is the memoir of an art museum director with the courage to reveal what goes on behind the scenes. Gary Vikan lays bare the messy underbelly of museum life: looted antiquities, crooked dealers, deluded collectors, duplicitous public officials, fakes, inside thefts, bribery, and failed exhibitions. These backstories, at once shocking and comical, reveal a man with a taste for adventure, an eagerness to fan the flames of excitement, and comfort with the chaos that often ensued. A Minnesota kid who started out as a printer’s devil in his father’s small-town newspaper, Vikan ended up as the director of The Walters Art Museum, a gem of a museum in Baltimore. Sacred and Stolen reveals his quest to bring the “holy” into the museum experience as he struggles to reconcile his passion for acquiring sacred works of art with his suspicion that they were stolen. The cast of characters in his many adventures include the elegant French oil heiress, Dominique de Menil, the notorious Turkish smuggler, Aydin Dikmen, his slippery Dutch dealer, Michel van Rijn, the inscrutable and implacable Patriarchs of Ethiopia and Georgia, and the charismatic President of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze—along with a mysterious thief of a gorgeous Renoir painting missing from a museum for over sixty years. When the painting suddenly shows up, it’s Vikan who tracks down the culprit. In his afterword Vikan explains his coming to grips with the realities of art dealing in our present dangerous world that includes the fanatical iconoclasm of the Islamic State. We know of the violent destruction and looting of precious treasures of antiquity and unscrupulous black market art dealers who take advantage of international conflicts to possess them. Sacred and Stolen is a truly eye-opening account of art dealing in the modern world.