Finding
It is a pity that it looks as if the authors or the publisher decided only at the last minute to publish it in English.
Paper
A bibliography on Himalayan ethnoghaphy . By Beatrix Pfleiderer and Elisabeth bergner, with the collaboration of Reinhard Greve. (Nepal Research Centre Publications 15.) pp. v, 136. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990.
Abstract
This is a welcome addition to the bibliographic literature on the Himalayan region. There are 1881 entries organised alphabetically by author covering the Himalayas from the Karakorum to Assam. There are two blemishes which a little time and effort could easily have remedied. In the first place, although published in English, the headings in the subject index are all in German (except, for some reason, " Community Development"). In the same way, the bibliography uses German abbreviations such as "u.", " Vgl.", and "Erstausg.", which will puzzle and irritate many readers quite needlessly. The second failing is that the index of ethnic and caste names only refers the reader to articles or books which explicitly name the ethnic group or caste in question. Thus Toflfin's article, "Dieux souverains et rois devots dans l'ancienne royaute de la vallee du Nepal" (L'Homme, 1986), is not listed under "Newar". The authors note this fact about the index in their preface, but it does not excuse it. The bibliography is not, of course, complete. For instance, Peter Webster's fascinating article about the ploughing taboo in the Kathmandu Valley, "To plough or not to plough?" (Pacific Viewpoint, 1981) is included; but a second article, on land tenure in the Kathmandu Valley, published two years later in the same journal, is not included. Such omissions are difficult to avoid. In the absence of any serious competitor, this remains a useful bibliography. It is a pity that it looks as if the authors or the publisher decided only at the last minute to publish it in English.
Authors
D. Gellner
Journal
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society