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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎256v] (515/1814)

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. .

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3 14 PERSIA
European manner, witb. bookcases behind glass doors, and in
which I saw several well-bound European books. It is leported
to contain many Arabic MSS. of inestimable value. Upon the left
hand at the top is the entrance to the new Museum, a great hall
or gallery, constructed after the return of the Shah from his hist
visit to Europe in 1873, to contain not only the Eoyal Eegalia,
but also the vast collection of objets d avt and curiosities, which the
generosity of foreign crowned heads, or his own whims, have
enabled him to amass during a reign of over forty years. This
extraordinary chamber, which with its contents alternately re
sembles an’Aladdin’s palace, an old curiosity shop, a prince’s
wardrobe, and a municipal museum, consists of a long parallelo
gram, crowned by a series of low domes, with plaster decorations
in white, blue, and gold, there being a number of deep recesses,
terminating in windows along one side j while the partition be-
tween these recesses, and the remaining walls of the room, are
fitted with glass cases, in which are displayed, side by side,
treasures of priceless value and the most unutterable rubbish.
The central part of the chamber, which is, in part, tile-paved,
contains a number of immense porcelain vases, mostly from
Europe, candelabra, lustres, armchairs covered with a thin plating
of real gold, etc., whilst upon tables or under glass cases are dis
posed with some slight effort at arrangement, but in ludicrous
juxtaposition, Swiss musical boxes, Persian antiquities and speci
mens, meteorolites, European purchases or presents, and heads of
game shot by His Majesty.
Perhaps the objects in this bizarre collection that most attract
the stranger are the infinity of gems, cut, uncut, or set in every
Crown variety of fashion, that are seen behind the glass panels,
jewels Here are the enamelled and bejewelled arms of the great
Sefavi kings, here the swords of Timur, Shah Ismail and Agha
Mohammed Shah, here the magnificent Abbas’ coat of mail. A
square glass case contains a vast heap of pearls, four or five inches
deep, into which one can plunge the hand and spill them in cas
cades and handfuls. Upon a separate stand appears the globe ol
jewels which was constructed out of his loose stones by the reigning
Shah, at a cost (exclusive of the gems, provided by himself) of
320,00(E., and which is looked upon as the artistic chef d'oeuvre
of his reign. Its alleged value, with the stones (75 lbs of pure
gold, and 51,366 gems, weighing 3656*4 grammes) is 947,000L

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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
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [‎256v] (515/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x00007a> [accessed 4 June 2026]

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