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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎831r] (1678/1814)

The record is made up of 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios). It was created in 1892-1924. It was written in English, Urdu and German. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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REVENUE, RESOURCES, AND MANUFACTURES
527
cases, is not what it was; but an order to the best native artists,,
and a sufficient amount of patience, will still procure a beautiful
and valuable article. Persian ingenuity has ever excelled in
carving; and on a small scale the pear-wood sherbet spoons of
Abadeh and Gulpaigan, which are transparent, and yet carved in
high relief on the surface, are a notable production.
I have now completed my survey of the chief indigenous pro
ducts, manufactures, and exports of modern Persia, in which, if I
have covered a wide field, I hope at the same time to have
Summaiy ex | }rac j- ie( j therefrom both information and interest. Prom
my narrative it will be seen that, in spite of her retrograde condi
tion, which a study of history does more than anything else to
accentuate, Persia, so far from being deficient, is richly endowed
with those natural resources which it is a nation’s own fault if it
does not transmute into gold. Physical conditions, such as tho
scarcity of navigable rivers, the long distances to be traversed, and
the interference of great mountain barriers between the interior
and the sea, undoubtedly retard the development of many of these
resources. But the apathy of the people and the neglect of the
Government are greater obstacles still, and the notable dispropor
tion of exports to imports in every table of statistics ever penned
is a result for which the Persians themselves are entirely to blame.
Improved means of transport, good cart roads, or even mule tracks,
if railroads are not to be hoped for yet awhile, the circulation of a
paper currency, and the facilitation instead of the wanton dis
couragement of foreign commerce on possible highways, such as
the Karun, might work a revolution in a few years, and are
measures which a sagacious sovereign and patriotic ministers
might be expected, if not to initiate, at least to support. What has
been done, is being done, or is capable of being done, for the ex
ploitation of the nation’s wealth, and for the promotion of trade,
has in part been displayed in previous chapters, but will appear
still more clearly in that which ensues.

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Content

These two volumes are George Curzon's own personal annotated copies of both volumes of his book Persia and the Persian Question , which was published in 1892. Alongside the volumes are various loose papers relating to Persia [Iran], consisting of the following: received correspondence; newspaper cuttings; publishers' press releases; cuttings from various booksellers' catalogues; various journal and magazine articles; two items of printed official British correspondence; several prints of photographs and sketches; and a few handwritten notes by Curzon.

In most cases these papers, which range in date from 1892 to 1924, relate to the chapters in the book where they were originally inserted, suggesting that they were kept by Curzon with the intention of using them to inform a revised edition of the book.

Of particular note among the small amount of correspondence are two letters received by Curzon in 1914 and 1915 from retired schoolmaster and Islamic scholar Sayyid Mazhar Hasan Musawi of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India (ff 5-9 and ff 44-53). These letters, which are written in Urdu and are accompanied by English translations, discuss in detail several inaccuracies found in the Urdu version of Persia and the Persian Question .

The various prints of photographs and sketches, which were originally inserted into volume two, are of different locations in the Gulf region. Several of these appear to have been produced in preparation for the publication of the second volume of John Gordon Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Oman and Central Arabia (i.e. the 'Geographical and Statistical' section) in 1908, as they are identical to the versions found in that volume.

Also of note among the loose papers are an illustrated article from Country Life dated 5 June 1920, entitled 'The People of Persia' (ff 36-37), and a printed family tree of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shah Qājār], produced in preparation of his visit to Britain in 1919 (f 233).

Volume one of Persia and the Persian Question contains a map of Persia, Afghanistan and Beluchistan [Balochistan], which is folded inside the front cover (f 1).

The German language material consists of a publisher's press release for two books authored by German archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld (ff 29-30).

Extent and format
2 volumes with inserts (898 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: this shelfmark consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the first folio of volume one (1-463), and terminates at the last folio of volume two (ff 464-898); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Each volume contains a large number of loose leaves, which have been foliated in the order that they were inserted into the volume; for conservation reasons, these loose folios have been removed from the volume and stored separately. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers of the two volumes.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English, Urdu and German in Latin and Arabic script
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎831r] (1678/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213850.0x00004f> [accessed 12 December 2024]

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