Oriental Carpets From the Tents, Cottages, and Workshops of Asia - John Thompson

A great introductory book on hand-woven carpets it covers the basic central Asia rug weaving in Iran and Afghanistan in particular understanding tradtional motifs.

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Oriental Rugs: The Collector's Guide to Selecting, Identifying, and Enjoying New and Antique Oriental Rugs - George W.O'Bannon

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 A history of carpet making offers practical advice on assessing and buying antique oriental rugs and carpets, provides a complete manufacturer's list, and is full of photographs of rugs from Turkey, Central Asia, China, and Tibet.

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Oriental Carpets: A Complete Guide - Murry L. Eiland

Oriental carpets gives an overview of the most common oriental rugs you are likely to encounter on the floors of America. A mix of oriental rug history and structural notes of how rugs are made. This book gives you a sound footing and gateways to understanding rugs and exploring the history of oriental rug weaving and rug design.

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Oriental Rugs a Complete Guide- Charles Jacobsen

Jacobsen spent decades in the wholesale and retail rug trade. While somewhat dated as a rug wholesaler and retailer, Jacobsen explains some of the old rug terminology and nomenclature used in the retail rug business from the early to mid-twentieth century with central asian rugs. This book is a useful reference for rug aficionados, less so for beginners. 

 

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Oriental Carpet Design" - P.R.J. Ford

As the name implies, rug are organized by design in this book; it's also a wealth of information on lesser know rug styles and small village weaving. Ford does an amazing job organizing oriental rugs by design elements.

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How to Read Islamic Carpets -Walter Denny 

Covers rugs woven in the "Rug Belt' including Morocco, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and northern India. This book adds a depth of understating of the blending of art, and religion into carpets of the Islamic world. Islamic carpet adds a deep understanding of how religion has influenced rug design and rug weaving.

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Tribal Rugs: A Complete Guide to Nomadic and Village Carpets - James Opie

A survey of the rug weavings of tribal rug weaving from Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia. This book covers the history of design and the origins of tribal weaving patterns. This book is a fantastic introduction to the scholarly world of tribal rugs and design origins. 

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Turkmen: Tribal Carpets and Traditions -Louis Mackie

This is our introduction to niche-focused rug books, in this case, antique tribal Turkmen rugs and textiles. It's essential reading for those interested in Turkoman rugs or the history of Bokhara rug designs and weaving styles.

An introduction to Kurdish Rugs & Other Weavings - William Eagleton 

This book covers more than 120 Kurdish tribes in Turkey and Iran on; there are color illustrations and structural data; this book takes a rich and deep look at Kurdish rug weaving. 

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One Woman, One Weft rug from the villages of Hamadan -Tad Runge 

Cover rugs from the weaving district of Hamadan that encompasses more than one hundred villages, many making unique rugs. This book covers weave structure and design found in Hamadan rug weaving.

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Southwest Textiles weaving of the Navajo and Pueblo - Kathleen Whitaker 

A must for anyone studying the weavings of the southwest, it explores the history and evolution of Navajo and Pueblo weaving. The book includes accounts of collectors and traders and some of the colorful people involved in the museum's founding and shaping of its collection. 

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There are many more books on Oriental rugs and more specialized books on tribal weavings and antique carpets. This list is by no means complete but rather a starting point for those interested in learning more about the traditional art of hand-woven rug-making 

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