![Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎95r] (196/1814)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000001491.0x00033b/Mss Eur F111_33_0207.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Annotated Copy of <em>Persia and the Persian Question</em> by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎95r] (196/1814)")
Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [95r] (196/1814)
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.
WAYS AND MEANS
57
or brigandage. I used mine for no more sanguinary purpose than to fire
at running partridges, and to put out of its misery a broken-legged
and abandoned donkey.
Among minor articles which will be found serviceable, but upon
whose particular use I need not dilate, are wax matches, folding candle-
Minor sticks (candles are always procurable in the native bazaars) y
suggestions i nS ect powder, vaseline (the skin is apt to get terribly chapped
by the sharp contrasts of climate), blue spectacles to resist the glare,
air cushions, a telescope, and last, but of supreme importance, the best
map that money can procure. I hope I shall not be thought impertinent
if I suggest that the gratification of the last-named want will involve
the purchase of this book.
As regards the best season of the year for visiting Persia, there are
two alternatives, the late autumn and the spring. The former is the
for P er i°d from October to January, the latter from March to
travelling May. Snow as a rule falls towards the end of December at
Teheran (in Azerbaijan much earlier), and blocks the loftier passes,
besides rendering travelling excessively cold. It begins to melt in
March. The advantages of the spring season are the richness of the
verdure, which the stranger sees at no other time, the songs of the
birds and the blooming of the flowers, which alone render the national
poetry intelligible, and, above all, the length of the days, which facilitates
lono* marches. But these are purchased at the cost of considerable
heat in the middle of the day, and of persecution by vermin at night.
In the autumn and winter, on the other hand, the climate is in
vigorating and superb. I rode 1,000 miles without a drop of rain ;
and in a country famous for filth I did not fall a victim to a single
flea. On the other hand, there was no verdure or beauty m the
landscape ; and as the winter drew on the days closed m, and it was
piercingly cold at night. During the summer months outdoor movement
is impossible during the daytime. Travellers sleep or repose ; and a
marching is done by light of the moon and stars.
1 It has been reserved for an American traveller, after committing the initial
indiscretion of journeying through Persia in the hot season and consequently
making his marches by night, to perpetrate the second of wn mg a
what he had not seen {Midnight Marches through Persia, by H. Ballantme).
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 [95r] (196/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213843.0x000003> [accessed 21 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