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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [273v] (549/1814)
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.
830 PERSIA
design, execution, nor glaze, do they deserve to be considered
works of art at all.
The bazaars of Teheran occupy a very considerable space in
the old city; although, in common with the rest of the capital,
they have experienced a much-needed renovation in the
Bazaars re ign of the present king. The main entrance is from
the street opposite the Shems-el-Imaret, and conducts, through an
open courtyard containing a pool of water, and known as the
Meidan-i-Sebz, into the dim, vaulted arcades which are so
familiar to the wanderer in Eastern lands. The Teheran bazaars
are vaulted throughout with a succession of low brick domes,
and open frequently upon small courts or squares. They contain
a number of spacious and well-built caravanserais; and there
are few objects of Eastern use or consumption—from a saddle-
horse to a tea-tray,—which cannot be there procured. Euro
pean merchandise is exhibited on every other stall, and one
of the first and most obvious discoveries is, that Persia clothes
itself from Europe. Another of the most widely-spread but un
intelligible of modern Persian tastes is abundantly illustrated, and
can be inexpensively gratified, in the Teheran bazaars. This is
the fondness, which seems to permeate all classes, from the Shah
downwards, for lustres, candelabra, candle and lamp shades, and
glass vases or ornaments of every conceivable description. I
never entered a Persian prince’s or nobleman’s house without
encountering a shop’s window full of these articles, as a rule
proudly stacked, as though they were rare treasures, upon a table;
and I imagine that a Persian would have no hesitation in pro
nouncing the Crystal Palace to be the maximum opus of the world’s
architecture. I shall say nothing about the manner of shops or
mode of selling, about the division of trades or scenes of barter,
in the Teheran bazaars; for the reason that they are the same as
in every other town in the East, and have been so frequently
described as to be familiar even to those who have not seen them.
I will merely say that, in arrangement, width of passage, size of
shops, and general structural convenience, they are in advance of
almost any Oriental bazaar that I have elsewhere seen, though
inferior to those which I afterwards saw at Isfahan and Shiraz,
and which may also be seen at Tabriz; but that, as a field of
exploration for the curio-hunter or stranger, they are the most
disappointing in the East. The vendors ask the most impossible
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 [273v] (549/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00009c> [accessed 4 April 2025]
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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