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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎71v] (149/1814)

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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PERSIA
ao
existence have gone the way of the singers who sang their praises
and are now only a shadow and a lament. In this neighbourhood
and in eloquent juxtaposition to these piles of modern ruin, occur
at intervals the relics of a grander imagination and a more ancient
past. Here on the plain still stands the white marble mausoleum
that, in all probability, once held the gold coffin and the corpse of
Cyrus. At no great distance the rifled sepulchre of Darius gapes
from its chiselled hollow in the scarp of a vertical cliff. Opposite
the princely platform of Persepolis lifts its dwindling columns
and amid piles of debris displays the sculptured handiwork that
graced the palace of Xerxes and the halls of Artaxerxes.
1 shall not be reproached if I linger awhile amid these
renowned, and often commemorated, relics of the past. They
Menu- sJl0W us that? i ust as mediaeval Persia was far removed
ments ° f from modern Persia in its pageantry and wealth, so
y ancient Persia—the Persia of Herodotus and Xenophon
was immeasurably superior to mediaeval Persia in its attributes,
and is even now more respectable in its ruin. Though in
dealing with these ancient and historic monuments I shall not
lecapitulate architectural or topographical details, which can be
found better displayed in other and more technical works, I shall
yet avail myself of the latest scientific knowledge and research
having no sympathy with those who rush through a country that
has elicited the services of profound and famous writers, and who
think the ignorant jottings of a tourist’s note-book good enough to
supersede the labours of a long line of scholars and men of science.
historian of travel who possesses any self-respect will thankfully
profit by their researches, in the spirit of the seventeenth century
hi A° 1 rT er - , Wll n W1 ' 0te that ‘ lle Was efficiently imbued in
s intellectuals with all due knowledge of sciences, languages,
111 whT aP ^ Pr n edent traVellerS ’ ma P S and b00ks > without
nor rein 1 p vel ’ er * cannot conceive so soon and so orderly,
tTme he , ° r ° r ° thers ’ ^
and of honest T r aV0Ur ’+ 7 tIie exercise of personal observation
hnspa^rfo^^r 80 iadependent account ° f what
In the extreme south-west I shall ^
the counfrv wlo , i ' c ln mte attention to a part of
t ie country where nature has been lavish of mR* ii f i
alternately blessed and despised • whl 8 ,,
through plains once enriched with a 1 y vi g able n ^rs flow
6Cl Wlth a su perb vegetation, though

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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 [‎71v] (149/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x00009c> [accessed 21 July 2026]

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