Record Number: 33556

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'For lighter reading we had the Shah's Diary, a work whose child-like simplicity admitted of but one interpretation. I never got through very much of it, but I did read far enough to see that the royal author did not consider himself to be bound by the ordinary rules of literary production. He was accustomed in particular to pass from one subject to another with a rapidity which was almost breathless. The book began somewhat after this fashion: "In the month of Sha'ban, God looked with extraordinary clemency upon the world; the crops stood high in the fields, and plenty was showered upon his fortunate people by the hand of Allah. I mounted my horse and proceeded to the review..."'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1892 and 31 Dec 1892

Country:

Persia

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Tehran

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Gertrude Bell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

14 Jul 1868

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Oxford graduate, later diplomat and archeologist

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Persia

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Naser al-Din Shah Qajar

Title:

Diaries

Genre:

Autobiog / Diary

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33556

Source:

Print

Author:

Gertrude Bell

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Persian Pictures: From the Mountains to the Sea

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2014

Vol:

n/a

Page:

92

Additional Comments:

Pagination is to the 2014 IB Tauris edition. The book was first published under the title 'Safar Nameh. Persian Pictures. A Book of Travel' in 1894.

Citation:

Gertrude Bell, Persian Pictures: From the Mountains to the Sea, (London, 2014), p. 92, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33556, accessed: 24 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

The published diaries of the Persian King Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831-96) were read in Persian during Gertrude Bell's stay in Tehran in the spring and summer of 1892. Pagination is to the 2014 I.B. Tauris edition. The book was first published under the title 'Safar Nameh. Persian Pictures. A Book of Travel' in 1894.