FIGURES OF SPEECH OR FIGURES OF THOUGHT? is perhaps Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's most important work on the philosophy of art. Here he is concerned primarily with traditional works of art and the intimate relationship between style, technique and meaning. These essays move easily between the boundaries of religions, cultures, historical periods and artistic thought in demonstrating that this rich diversity stills shares an underlying unity: the sacred.

This new revised edition of a classic work includes additional notes made by Coomaraswamy to his earlier additions, a foreword by editor William Wroth and an introduction by noted Coomaraswamy scholar, Roger Lipsey. Another aid to readers is that here, for the first time, all passages in foreign languages in the original edition have been translated in this new edition.