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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [579v] (1173/1814)
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.
162
PERSIA
Those black granite pillars, once high-reared
By Jamshid in Persepolis to bear
His house, now, ’mid their broken flights of steps,
Lie prone, enormous, down the mountain-side.
And yet that they do not all so lie the photographs will show, and we
can still, amid a chaos of wilful destruction, most thankfully perceive.
The columns that still survive, albeit in a sadly mutilated condition,
along with the yet visible bases of others that have long ago fallen or
disappeared, reveal to us the plan of the building. It consisted of a
central hall supported by six rows of six columns each, with advanced
porticoes on three of its sides, north, east, and west, containing two rows
of six columns each, or a grand total of seventy-two columns. Of these
thirteen are still standing.' No plan that I have hitherto seen (that
which accompanies this chapter has been drawn under my own instruc
tions) places these in their right positions. To a visitor approac mg
from the north or principal staircase they are : (1) In the north portico,
the third from the right intheouter row ; (2) in the central hall, theouer-
most on the left in the first row, the second irom the right m the
row and the third from the left in the fourth row ; (o) m the east
portico, the third and fourth from the north m the outer row, and the
second and third in the inner row ; (4) m the west portieo the rs
fifth, and sixth from the north in the outer row, and the third and
sixth in the inner row. In many other cases the bases are ^11 S Wi„g
with fragments of the shattered drums lying hard by The interior
surfaces of the latter, where they were originally joined to each other,
are as smooth and level as on the clay when they were planed ano the
holes are visible in them that contained the dowels, by which they were
held together. The second and third in the outer row of the west por-
So struck me at first as being those that must have fallen most
recently (and that made up the total to fifteen at the beginning of the
century), since the broken fragments of their shafts are still lying where
they fell ; but a reference to the pages of Ker Porter shows me that
this was a false inference, since the two additiona survivors m his chi)
belonged to the central group, and not to either of the porticoes. It is
. The sure though gradual, process of decay is illustrated by tb 6 ever -
• ar number of columns that has been recorded by travellers at different
dwindling mm ^ oenturieSi and whic h I have gathered from my reading.
times durmg e(J ^ Della Valle (1621) 25, Herbert (1627) 19, Mandelslo
Figueroa (1619) P but it appears doubtful whether he actually visited
(1638) 19 Taverner 19 , Chardin (circ. 1670) 20 [19
the spot himself) 18j xc aem pf e r (1691) 17, Le Brun (1704) 19
only in his Illus ration] J ^ > Niebohr (1765 ) 17, Franklin (1787) 15,
[i.e. including the two py J porter (1818) ^ Kich ( 182 i) 15 , De Bone
Morier (1809) 1 6 > use 13 Uss ( ler (1861) 13, Mounsey (1866) 13, Stack
SfsS £ “be seen that’several of these writers have made mistakes.
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 [579v] (1173/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213847.0x0000ae> [accessed 18 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