![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎60r] (126/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0137.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎60r] (126/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [60r] (126/1814)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
PEEFACE
XI
ther de-
to some
inally 5 I
)our and
3on any
"ul hand
5 liberal-
) under-
)duction.
ompiled,
action, I
r its first
ry 1892.
rface the
erson ally
a/
, I would
ls yet in
specially
Sharbau,
elegant
leal and
^e some-
ring this
spicuous
n to re-
lowledge
ntifically
3 of that
lether it
^ellectual
sence, an
n Persia
a of the
i; and I
can truly say that single lines in tliis book have sometimes cost me
hours of work and pages of correspondence.
Among the special features which I have incorporated, the
following may be mentioned. At the end of such chapters as
relate to a particular province or part of the country, I have com
piled a list of the principal routes in the neighbourhood that have
been followed and described by previous writers. In a country
without railways or a Bradshaw, a new comer, if he diverge from
the beaten track, is likely to be quite unconscious whether his
route has been traversed before, or whether he is upon virgin
ground. If the former, I present him with the means of compari
son ; if the latter, I acquaint him with the responsibilities of dis
covery. I had originally hoped to append to my second volume a
bibliography of Persian Geography and Travel ; but to such
dimensions has my list of titles swollen that I must reserve it for
a separate publication. Instead I have affixed to the discussion of
each locality or subject as complete a catalogue as my reading
has furnished, of the works relating thereto in European tongues.
Many tables, pedigrees, and catalogues that have never previously
been published are also included in the text.
For the political opinions expressed therein I desire to claim
the sole responsibility. They have not been derived from, and are
very likely not shared in their entirety by, the British Legation at
Teheran. Still less have they been borrowed from any of the
friends whose services I shall presently acknowledge. If they are
ever found to be unpalatable to the admirers of Persia, they have
certainly not been arrived at in any spirit of unfriendliness to that
nation whose best interests I desire to serve, nor are they uttered
without a profound conviction in every instance that they are true.
The proportion of the whole truth that ought to be told in the
domain of statecraft is a question open to dispute. But at least
let me side with those who abhor the diplomatic lie. Finally, let
me add that the whole of these two volumes, with the exception of
the chapter on Persepolis, was already in print when I became
officially connected with the
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.
; and that the views
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [60r] (126/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x000085> [accessed 24 June 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/33
- Title
- Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Questionby George Curzon, with Inserted Papers
- Pages
- 54r:135v, 147r:149v, 158r:180v, 183r:221v, 224r:224v, 227r:246v, 248r:257v, 259r:260v, 268r:362v, 364r:364v, 367r:388v, 390r:400v, 402r:416v, 419r:432v, 434r:444v, 448r:462v, 464r:471v, 475r:481v, 483r:513v, 516r:525v, 527r:544v, 546r:563v, 566r:598v, 600r:622v, 624r:656v, 658r:665v, 667r:675v, 678r:684v, 687r:688v, 691r:691v, 693r:693v, 695r:708v, 711r:721v, 724r:726v, 728r:729v, 731r:736v, 742r:742v, 746r:757v, 759r:761v, 763r:763v, 765r:765v, 772r:777v, 780r:789v, 793r:794v, 797r:809v, 811r:821v, 825r:840v, 843r:898v
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Usage terms
- Public Domain