author
1865–1946
Best known for a 1913 guide to Oriental rugs, this American physician brought a collector’s eye and a teacher’s clarity to a subject that fascinated early 20th-century readers. His work helped introduce rug history, design, and craftsmanship to a wider audience.
Remembered today for The Practical Book of Oriental Rugs (1913), George Griffin Lewis was an American physician who also wrote for general readers. Public-domain library records and author listings identify him as born in 1865 and dying in 1946, and they connect him with both medical work and writing.
His best-known book explains the styles, origins, and features of Oriental rugs in a way meant to be useful to buyers and admirers, not just specialists. That practical, accessible approach is likely why the book has continued to circulate long after its original publication.
Available records about his personal life are limited, so it is safest to focus on the work that can be clearly confirmed: a doctor who also became an author, and whose writing opened a decorative art subject to a broad English-speaking audience.