Enchantment. Pictures from the Tangier American Legation Museum

A perfect introduction to Moroccan history for the general reader. A challenge to scholars to reconsider Orientalism, without polemics. And an invitation for all to explore a charming museum. ENCHANTMENT offers a "wonderful tour" of Morocco - by way of eight essays and 77 colored reproductions of paintings and prints, now hanging in the first diplomatic mission ever acquired by the young United States. These pictures illustrate stories about the North African kingdom's relationship with the foreigners who fell under its spell, and became embroiled in its affairs. The captivated artists range from the father of romanticism, Eugene Delacroix, to the sometimes decadent circle around writer Paul Bowles. They include a renowned Scottish etcher, James McBey, in flight from a bleak past, and a kidnapped American playboy, Ion Perdicaris, one of the twentieth century's first celebrities. Also featured are works by Moroccan artists who enthusiastically embraced new ways of making art and of expressing their affection for this beguiling land, poised on the cusp of three civilizations. Sales support the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies