1 What is this site about?

2 The history of my collection

3 Current collection categorization

4 Writing a book about bells

5 Mailing list

6 Contact information

7 Copyright and legal information

1 What is this site about?

This website is a picture album containing photos of the bells in my collection. I've decided to put them online so other bell enthusiasts can enjoy them as well.

If the titles or descriptions for the pictures or albums are in any way wrong, I kindly ask to you to suggest me the corrections to the name, origins and utilizations. My English is not extraordinary and I can use the help.

2 The history of my collection

I started collecting bells a long time ago, after my wife got a Shijun (frame) with a BIANZHONG (hang bell without clapper) as a present from her students (she's a school teacher).

As I was travelling around the continents a fair amount of time with my business, I started looking for more than just souvenirs, but for something unique and representative as well. My attention was caught by bells and I started taking a deeper interest in them.

I started buying bells from antique shops and open markets, and they gradually started forming a small collection. Eventually, as they found out about my interest, relatives and friends started to provide me other bells as gifts.

As time passed, I chose the bells I got more carefully, looking not only to increase the number of pieces but rather to cover a variety of cultures and purposes.

At this moment I guess you can say I have a definite hobby.

3 Current collection categorization

The current number of more than 170 pieces can be structured as follows:

• by row materials = wood, cooper, iron, bronze, clay, rock;
• by age = the oldest is from 16th century China;
• by size = the biggest is 22 cm high and the smallest is 12 mm;
• by type = I have hanging bells with or without a clapper, bells with or without bells a handle, cattle bells, little bells and spheric (Tiger) bells;
• by origin = from all continents, except Australia;
• by purpose = religious bells, alarm bells, fire bells, scholl bells, bells for racing tracks and horses or for tamed animals, ship bells, protection bells, shamanic bells, court bells a.s.o.

4 Writing a book about bells

As I collected bells, I eventually started asking myself about all differences and common ellements between them. This was the beginning of a real hard work on the way to finding answers. I got thousand of pieces of information about bells and I structured them in 3 parts: literature, history and pictures.

In 2003, I chose a title for a proposed Trilogy about bells: "An universal language project", structured in three parts, and I used the information I got as a base for it, as follows:

Part one - "The Soul"

Contains over 1,000 poems about bells, little bells, cow bells and spheric bells, extracted from universal literature;

The second part - "The Fog"

It is about bell history, trying to find answers about bell origins in my home country, Romania, as well as Asia, Rusia, Europe, Africa and the new world, in music, on- and under-water bells, tiger bells and cattle bell origins, plus excentric things about bells;

The third part - "The Faith"

This will be an album with famous bells all over the world: single bells in or without carillons, freedom, peace or liberty bells plus some well known bells from my country, Romania.

The first part is ready, although every day I find new poems to be added, and it's quite clear what the 3rd part, the album, will contain.

The second part, about bell history, will take maybe another few years in order to find an acceptable formula. I also have to start getting the copyright approuvals before I can publish this trilogy.

I want to write this book for the sake of my fellow countrymen, living into a country where acces to religions and church was restricted by a comunist system for more than 50 years. I do not know if I'll ever succede, but I love the ideea and I fight for it.

5 Mailing list

I invite everybody out there having an interest in bells to join an international partenership, to exchange information we have and maybe to find some other ways of intercultural services related to bells.

I have created a debating forum open to all those interested, and this way I'm sure that bells can become one of the projects for an universal language, as a re-discovered value of all the world, given their history of more than 4,000 years, but being still modern and up-to-date.

In order to join please go here: <http://groups-beta.google.com/group/bells>. As soon as you join you can send messages to the list, either via Web or via email. I would appreciate an introductory message about yourself and your interest in bells.

6 Contact information

My name is Prof. Ovidiu Oana. You can reach me via email at the following address: ovidiu.oana zuavra net. I will ask you to add the @ and dots yourself, I can't do it due to spam bots.

7 Copyright and legal information

The utilitary icons and buttons on the site were created by Jakub Steiner and are copyright Novell. They can be used on personal and non-profit sites freely, but if you want to use them yourself you have to go take them from the Gnome Icons site.

Everything else on the site is copyrighted by me, Ovidiu Oana. The pictures found here are pictures I took myself, of bells in my own private collection. You are granted permission to make a copy for personal use, but you may not distribute, share or publish them further in any way. Any kind of use that falls outside fair personal use requires explicit permission from me.