Drower (1879-1972) was a self-taught British scholar and novelist who became recognized as an authority on the Middle East generally, but particularly of the Mandaeans, the last living Gnostic Baptists of Iraq and Iran. Also a specialist in the Mandaeans, Buckley (religion, Bowdoin College, Maine) presented edited selections of Drower's correspondence with other scholars from 1938 to the 1960s. They are arranged around her books and activities: Sfar Malwasic; Water into Wine, A Study of Ritual Idiom in the Middle East; A Mandaean Dictionary; a controversial book, a spat, and a prize in the early 1960s; and Mass and Masiqta. Buckley received copies of the letters from Drower's descendants, so this is--and may always be--their only publication. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
An edition of the scholarly letters of the English Lady E. S. Drower, famous for her novels, travel accounts, and studies in the Middle East, especially on the Mandaeans. Drower (1879-1972) kept up a lively correspodence with scholars, and the letters here span the years 1938 to the mid-1960s.
