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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [543v] (1099/1814)
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.
106
PERSIxl
something of good. From every sheaf I have gleaned an ear/
Returning from his peregrinations, the poet resided for the last
thirty years of his life at his native city, devoting himself to
literary production, of which his c Gulistan,’ or Rose Garden, and
his c Bostan,’ or Fruit Garden, are the most famous. Sadi had
not been long dead when Hafiz was born ; this being the poetical
sobriquet worn by Mohammed Shems-ed-Din, also of Shiraz.
Of his life we know little, but his mingled vein of. gaiety and
mysticism, expressed in a hundred odes and sonnets, in praise of
wine, women, music, and love, with a higher strain of allegoiy
sometimes lurking behind, have endeared him to his emotional
countrymen, while they alternately remind us of the odes of
Horace and the Song of Solomon. It is disputed by erudite
Persians whether the efforts of Hafiz more abandoned Muse aie
to be literally or figuratively interpreted. For my own part, I
would not inflict upon the genial memory of the poet the affront
of misconstruction that has twisted the beautiful epithalamium of
Solomon into an incomprehensible rhapsody about the Church.
Hafiz died and was buried at Shiraz in A.D. 1388.
The Sadieh, or enclosure that holds the tomb of Sadi, is at the
distance of about one mile from the town in a north-easteily
m , o direction, and lies iust under the mountains. A garden
Sadi precedes a building, containing some small rooms m tne
centre, and an arched diwan on either side, in one of which, with
plain, whitewashed, unpretentious walls, behind a tall brass lattice
or screen, reposes the sarcophagus of the poet. 1 This is an oblong
chest of stone, open at the top, and covered with Arabic
inscriptions. A friendly green-turbaned seyid did the honours of
the place. A hundred years ago, when Franklin saw it, this tomb,
which is the original fabric, was covered with a very ancient
wooden case, painted black and inscribed with an ode of Sadi. In
1811, also, Ouseley saw a lid lying near; but I did not observe an)
such addition. In Tavernier’s time (1665) the tomb * had been very
fair; but it runs to mine/ Kerim Khan restored the building,,
without altering the sarcophagus; but at the beginning of the
present century it had again fallen into such decay that Scott
Waring in 1802 and Sir John Malcolm in 1810 offered to repair
it at their own expense. It has since been subjected to some sort
1 Illustrations of it are given by Ouseley, vol. ii. plate xxv., and Mme. Dieulafoy,
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 [543v] (1099/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x000064> [accessed 4 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