Journal of a Tour in Persia, during the years 1824 & 1825.

£4,750 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A candid account of Persia, written by a British diplomat in his first years of service. Privately printed by Money’s parents, the present copy belonged to his wife. Robert Cotton Money (1803-35) was educated at Westminster and the East India College in Hertford. After three years at the latter he was appointed as assistant to Col. Ephraim Stannus (1784-1850) who was British Resident in the Persian Gulf. Comprised of letters to his parents, the journal is not a sober delineation of his working life, but rather a series of personal reflections. It is nonetheless a valuable account of Persia in the years just before the Russo-Persian War of 1826-28. The journal begins at Bushire, where Money and Stannus were based. There is a good description of the port city and an outlining of his superior’s role: “Colonel S. has to visit, conciliate, settle differences between, and curb the piratical spirit of all the Arab Sheikhs on the opposite coast.” (p.9). Though further details of the challenges facing Stannus are scant, the task of deterring the Persian court from invading Bahrain is mentioned (see p.73). From Bushire, Money travelled Northward, to Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tehran, and Westward to Kermanshah. His descriptions of each city, along with the towns and archaeological sites en route, are fresh and unguarded; flickering from engagement with Persian culture (translating Hafiz for his parents) to the desire to return home (nostalgia for church bells). Decidedly Christian, Money is

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