8vo. xxii, [1], 650 pp; frontispiece portrait, 1 folding map, cloth in clipped d/w, with a memoir by Sir E. Denison Ross, index, lightly faded spine, previous owner’s inscription verso upper and lower endpapers, otherwise copy in very good condition, reprint of 1893 edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1970.

Synopsis

These are Browne’s memoirs of the year he spent in Persia (modern Iran), and includes many noteworthy episodes with members of the nascent Baha’i Faith (called Bábís by Browne). This is Browne’s own account of his long journey through Persia, from 1887 to 1888, which, despite his eminence as a Persian scholar, was to be his only visit to the country. Fortunately, it proved to be a lengthy one, in which he immersed himself in Persian culture, shunning the company of his fellow Europeans and seeking out the various religious characteristics in the country. His obsession, of course, was of the Babi religion (that had already morphed into the Baha’i faith by the time he arrived) that had sprung up with a great zeal in Persia hardly 40 years before his visit. However, he spent his time with people from all religions and made it known that he was sympathetic and interested in all things to do with the spirit.