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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [77v] (161/1814)
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.
:22
PERSIA
furnished by the Indian civil and military services, officers belong
ing to both of which have taken Persia on their way to or from
England ; the most conspicuous among their names being, in the
military department, those of Colonel Johnson, Captain Arthur
Conolly (afterwards murdered at Bokhara), and Sir Alexander
Burnes, the subsequent victim of the tragedy of Kabul; and in
the civil department, R. B. Binning, who, in 1851, assisted by an
uncommon familiarity with the Persian language, wrote the last
really good book that has been written on Persia, and E. Stack,
who, in 1881, threw the graces of independent thought and a
fascinating style over the novel area of his explorations. In the
middle part of the century, and at intervals since, distinct additions
to our store of knowledge have been provided by the English and
American missionaries, who have selected Persia as the scene of
their labours, whether with the Nestorian Christians on the north
east frontier, or with the Armenians in several of the larger cities.
In the same period a few other names stand forth from the ranks
with conspicuous pre-eminence. The first of these is Major (now
Sir Henry) Rawlinson, who to the merit of his own topographical
researches, when employed as an officer in the service of Mohammed
Shah, superadded a political knowledge and grasp that subsequently
made him British Minister at Teheran, and in later times the
political historian of Anglo-Persian relations, and an archaeological
acumen that revealed to him the dark riddles of the Cuneiform
alphabet, and have elevated him to the front rank of Oriental
sckolais. Sir H. Layard, a not inferior name, also most fortunately
devoted to a portion of the Persian dominions those gifts of
insight and of style that have rendered him famous; whilst among
the officers of other nationalities who have been employed in Persia,
the Frenchman Ferrier is conspicuous for his valuable and scholarly
uoik.. France has also had the credit of sending to Persia the
expeditions of Texier, of Flandin and Coste, and, in later years, of
Dieulafov, whose researches or discoveries, supported by ample
unds have resulted m the production of splendid volumes, illus
trated on the most sumptuous scale. In 1859 the Geographical
Society of St. Petersburg deputed M. de Khanikoff, who applied
o the study of Persian topography the spirit of scientific scholar-
s ip somewhat marred by political prepossessions. And if, during
ie same epoch, Great Britain has neither commissioned nor
wee similar inquiry a department in which she appears to
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 [77v] (161/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213842.0x0000a8> [accessed 7 July 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