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elcome to Nettleberry, your source for top quality books written about Turkey or by Turkish authors. Our growing list provides books for the traveler to Turkey, those traveling to this fascinating country for the first time or those who are already seasoned in Turkish traveling opportunities. Nettleberry also offers books for students and academicians that touch on or reveal some aspect of Turkey, be it literary, historical, architectural, sociological, psychological, or political. Nettleberry's list of translations of Turkish literary works is also growing, with translations of young Turkish authors who have already made their mark in Turkey and who deserve to be discovered by readers from other cultures as well. Books can be purchased through this site using PayPal or by sending a check, order information and mailing address directly to Nettleberry (see the about page for contact information). If you have any questions or comments, or would like to receive information on upcoming releases, please write to info@nettleberry.com. We hope you enjoy our selection.

A new treasure is uncovered in Istanbul! This time the uncovered treasure is one that was never hidden out of sight, but represents rather a treasure of textile-based artifacts that went unrecognized for the artistic wealth it represents. Now this collection of textile treasures of the Armenian Churches of Istanbul is being introduced to the world for the very first time. Like the items the book introduces, the book too is a treasure, not only for textile and art historians, but for anyone cultivating an interest in the culture, art and religious forms of Anatolia and those of Anatolian Armenians.

Over 170 beautiful photographs illustrate the selection of artifacts that make up the textile treasury of the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul, exquisite pieces dating from the past three hundred years that have been executed in embroidery, appliqué, techniques of textile printing, and painting.

Women not only used their incredible needlework techniques to create these breathtakingly beautiful pieces of textile art, they also infused their needlework with their own visions and artistic sense. Here is a synthesis of symbolic forms reflecting Anatolia and a rich artistic past that must certainly blend Anatolian, Byzantine, Caucasian, Turkic, Mongolian and Ottoman styles. Eastern miniature art is recreated and reformed with soft silken floss and tiny needles. The most minute of details come to life when viewed through a magnifying glass. The congregations, mostly illiterate at the time these items were produced, "read" the gospel stories through the images on the cloth and were awestruck—as we are—by the richness of the silk cloth, the colorful embroidery, and the generous use of precious jewels and metals in the pieces.

The book also provides a brief historical background of the Istanbul Patriarchate and its Istanbul churches, discusses the iconographies of the objects, and describes their techniques of production. The reference catalogue is highly useful as a reference for scholars, while the translations of the inscriptions on the pieces open a window to all readers onto the personal lives of the people who contracted and gifted these items to the Church.