Vietnam Documented

Explore Vietnam’s rich literary and graphic design history.

Vietnam has a strong literary culture that dates back to Confucian influence and has remained important today. Using Vietnamese books, documents, and manuscripts from the collection of the British Library, Vietnam Documented gives a window into that heritage and represents key incidents in Vietnamese social, cultural, and political history. It also highlights the visual sophistication of Vietnamese design, drawing on Chinese and French models and socialist styles in art and design. An informative text by the long-time Keeper of the Vietnamese collection, Sud Chonchirdsin, introduces the book.

Among the earliest documents in the Library's collection is a 17th-century royal letter to the English East India Company. Other highlights include a travel diary of a member of one of the last of Vietnam's tribute missions to the Imperial court in China (1880) and a beautifully illustrated manuscript of the classic Tale of KiÊ`u. The strength of the collection lies in materials collected during Vietnam's twentieth-century struggle for independence—including rare periodicals from North Vietnam—that show how artists were mobilized in wartime. This accessible, full-color introduction to an under-appreciated design heritage is a welcome view into a beautiful culture.