Record Number: 33572

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'The chief of the post, pushing his long hair out of his eyes and leaning on his gun, slowly read the address of my letter of introduction to the Governor at Alishtar. This letter was an "Open Sesame": its quite insignificant contents were luckily sealed up but the name on the envelope had already served to get me through the entanglements of the Nihavend police.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Oct 1931 and 31 Oct 1931

Country:

Persia

Time

daytime

Place:

city: Kuh-e-Garu pass
county: Lorestan (Luristan)

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

passive in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Listener:

Freya Stark

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

31 Jan 1893

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Travel writer

Religion:

Christian

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:

[Anon] [Anon]

Title:

[letter of introduction]

Genre:

Unknown, Letter of introduction used as an informal 'laissez-passer'

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Letter

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33572

Source:

Print

Author:

Freya Stark

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Valley of the Assassins and other Persian Tales

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1934

Vol:

n/a

Page:

4

Additional Comments:

Pagination is from the 2001 Modern Library edition. The book was first published by John Murray in London in 1934.

Citation:

Freya Stark, The Valley of the Assassins and other Persian Tales, (London, 1934), p. 4, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33572, accessed: 19 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Dame Freya Madeline Stark, Mrs Perowne, (31 January 1893 – 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. The letter of introduction was written (and read) in Persian; Stark was travelling from the Iraqi border into Luristan (Lorestan) province via the Kuh-e-Garu mountain pass.