'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎21] (52/714)

INTRODUCTORY
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some time enshrined the corpus of available geographical know
ledge about the country; and in the journeys and explorations of
several English or Indian officers, notably Grant, Pottinger, Christie,
and Monteith. Almost simultaneously, the French Mission of
General Gardanne, the emissary of Napoleon, carried with it
a train of emulous writers, amongst whom we may notice the
names of Truilhier, Trezel, Tancoigne, and Dupre, the latter being
responsible for the best book. Sir Harford Jones, in 1809, penned
the record of his own energy and misfortunes, and was accompanied
by Morier, who on this occasion, and again two years later, when
returning in a similar capacity with Sir Gore Ouseley, utilised his
opportunity to publish two works of considerable authority and
careful research. No mission ever had more plentiful historians
than that of Ouseley, for, in addition to Morier's second work, its
record was written by Sir W. Ouseley, brother to the ambassador,
and a great Oriental scholar, and by A\ . Price. In 1817, Ivotzebue
penned the narrative of the Russian Embassy of Count Y ermoloff.
In 1835, Colonel Stuart came out as secretary to Sir Henry
Ellis, and left an interesting picture of the administration of
Mohammed Shah. Later, Sir Justin Sheil, British Minister,
assisted his wife in the compilation ot a serviceable and informing
work. The Comte de Gobineau utilised a diplomatic residence at
Teheran in the interests of France to issue more than one learned
volume; while the junior branches of the various legations have
been creditably represented by the Baron de Bode, secretary to the
Russian Legation, who described an interesting journey to Bakhtiari
Land in 1840-1 ; by Eastwick, who filled an analogous position
in the British Legation twenty years later; and by M. Barbier de
Meynard, whose translations and annotations of Oriental writers
have placed him in the front rank of French scholars.
Attracted by the increasing noise that Persia was making
in the Western world, a number of English travellers of indepen
dent means selected that country, from the first decade of the
century onwards, as the arena of geographical or archaeological
research, and of subsequent literary enterprise. Scott Waring,
Buckingham, Sir R. Ker Porter, and J. Baillie 1 raser, belong to
this class in the first half of the century, the last-named ha\ ing
found in Persia a literary mine which was not exhausted until lie
had given several admirable books of travel, as well as a numbei
of romances, to the world. Another class of writers has been