Michael:
Yes, it's VERYexpensive, and I haven't bought my own copy yet... I really
can't decide for you, but I would suggest trying to see it at a library
first before making a decision.
To give an example: I just opened it at 'Phags-pa (7 1/2 pages). There are
some 9 tables in here, and you might or might not figure out what they are
about, but the column names are in Japanese (would you guess the difference
between "transliteration for Tibetan", and "used transcription in Mongolian"
etc.?). Transcription/pronunciation is in Western alphabet, but not meaning
or further explanation. There are 3 pictures of sources, but you won't be
able to read what it is, what the points are which are illustrated by them,
nor the translations, only the transliterations. You won't be able to read
the text (history, detailed notes on characteristics, writing organization,
sources--knowing how much there is will make you feel very frustrated), and
you will understand only 3 out of the 6 references. This is followed by
Batak (7 pages), which starts with 5 different varieties, but you won't be
able to read the labels of the five varieties (Tapanuli, Toba, Dairi,
Margun, Karo), etc., although in this case you can read the bibliography
completely (9 references: 2 English, 1 Indonesian, 1 German, 4 or 5 Dutch).
Batak has 6 tables and 7 figures of sample texts (with in this case not much
explanation except title). This is followed by Papai script (5 pages), with
one German and 3 Japanese references, 3 tables, and 3 figures (only one of
which is a sample text, for the remainder you need Japanese) then 2 pages
Hatran, followed by Pahawh Hmong...
So, I really think it's wonderful, but without Japanese it will be very
frustrating: you'll want to know what's there. It's not a picture book, as
is the Japanese Man and Writing book and/or CD ROM; THAT is really the best
collection of pictures of scripts I know of, and would be enjoyable and
useful even for those not knowing Japanese. It's also unlike the Sekai no
moji no zuten, a work I once reported, which is a work of 500 plus pages of
mainly hand-drawn pictures and tables, with minimal (and rather obvious
introductory) texts: useful but not essential.
I hope you have a chance to see the book before you decide.
Martin Heijdra
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Everson" <everson@evertype.com>
To: <unicode@unicode.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 3:00 PM
Subject: Re: Book
> At 09:35 -0500 2002-06-03, Martin Heijdra wrote:
> >For all script enthousiasts:
> >
> >A supplement (bekkan) to the Sanseido Encyclopaedia of Linguistics
> >(Japanese: Gengogaku Daijiten) has appeared under the title Sekai Moji
> >Jiten: (Scripts and Writing Systems of the World). It is a very dense,
hefty
> >volume of 1222 pages. It treats historical and current scripts, in
general
> >in much, much greater detail (and many more varieties; Nora script,
anyone?)
> >than Bright & Daniels. A great strength is of course Asian scripts
(India,
> >China, SE Asia), which tend to get short shift in general Western
> >publications. It's definitely a major work, combining the characteristics
> >of, but going beyond both books of the Bright & Daniels variety, and
those
> >of the Dirringer/Jensen compendia kind.
> >
> >Of course, the entries (which have bibliographies, many in Western
> >languages) are in Japanese; I don't think the numerous illustrations are
> >sufficient for a non-Japanese reader, even if headings have an English
> >equivalent. Moreover, it is very pricy: I just checked at Amazon Japan,
and
> >the price quoted is Y48,000. Nevertheless, if you're serious about
scripts
> >and know Japanese, you should check it out.
>
> That's EUR 416.70, or USD 363.25.
>
> I'm serious about scripts and *don't* know Japanese, beyond being
> able to find things in a dictionary without any speed whatsoever. And
> that's expensive, Martin. Still... would the numerous illustrations
> be sufficient for ... ME?
> --
> Michael Everson *** Everson Typography *** http://www.evertype.com
>
>
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