Member Achievement: Matthew T. Kapstein

Matthew T. Kapstein, Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, has published three books: The Life and Work of Auleshi: Sherpa Buddhist Art and Adept, Tibetan Manuscripts and Early Printed Books: Volume I, and Tibetan Manuscripts and Early Printed Books: Volume II.

In The Life and Work of Auleshi: Sherpa Buddhist Art and Adept, a biography of the The Sherpa Buddhist monk Ngawang Leksh., familiarly known as Auleshi – “Uncle Benedict” in English – Kapstein recalls Auleshi’s life and work achievements.

In his latter works Tibetan Manuscripts and Early Printed Books: Volume I and Tibetan Manuscripts and Early Printed Books: Volume II, Kaptein and an international team of specialists elucidate the material and aesthetic features of the wide range of Tibetan books, providing a comprehensive introduction to major collections of Tibetan manuscripts and printed books.

In Volume I, Kapstein details the “manufacture of paper and ink, format and layout, scripts and scribal conventions, illumination and decoration, woodblock printing, book storage, preservation, and the use of contemporary digital technologies for the documentation of traditional works” (Abstract). In Volume II, he “explores the major categories of traditional Tibetan books, surveying manuscript collections including Buddhist scriptural canons, official and administrative documents, works on technical subjects, and Tibetan books from China and Mongolia” (Abstract).

Congratulations, Dr. Kapstein, on your latest publications!