"خريطة بلاد فارس، مع مذكرة وفهرس." [و‎‎٣] (٥٧/١٠)

: MEMORANDUM
ON
THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY’S
By the Hon. George Curzon, M.P.
A year and a quarter ago the Council of the Royal Geographical
Society consented, at my instance, and in continuation of a scheme
which they had sanctioned and (in the case of the map of Tibet) already
in part commenced, to order the execution of an entirely new map of
Persia. The reasons which induced them to take this step were, firstly,
the absence of anything like a reliable map of that country, embodying
the results either of recent travels by private individuals, or of the
more authoritative surveys conducted by emissaries of the British and
RuSsian Governments, secondly, the increasing interest that is felt in
the kingdom of the Shah, and the growing extent to which it is yearly
visited and explored by Englishmen; and thirdly, the command, of
which I was able to assure them, of as complete a collection as is pro
curable of the necessary materials. Influenced by these considerations,
the Council graciously acceded to my request, and placed in my hands
the execution of the proposal. Mr. W. J. Turner, f.r.g.s., whose
intelligent and painstaking work has frequently appeared in the Society’s
‘ Proceedings,’ was specially retained to construct the map; and the
sheet to which these paragraphs stand in the relation of an explanatory
memorandum, is the result of our combined labours, which, if they are
often imperfect, and possibly sometimes—from the circumstances of the
case—inaccurate, have yet been conscientiously pursued, and mark,