Journal of the British Embassy to Persia; Embellished with numerous views taken in India and Persia: Also a Dissertation upon the Antiquities of Persepolis.

£5,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

An intriguing copy of an important account of the British Embassy to Persia in 1811-12. It appears to have belonged to Price at some point and was perhaps employed as his proof during the final stages of preparing the second edition. Though lacking some of the called-for plates it features four apparently unrecorded proof lithographs, an additional engraving and an original sepia drawing. Born into a family of shoemakers, William Price (1780-1830) became a professional orientalist somewhat by accident. Self-taught in an array of European languages he found his way to Persian and Arabic in a fairly haphazard manner, his interest in the latter sparked by “noting the colloquial phrases used by some Moroccans in London” (ODNB). He quickly mastered both tongues, gaining admission to the British Museum Library and even attracting the approaches of the East India Company. Though the EIC offer came too soon, with Price still tied into the family business, he was later able to accept the role of assistant secretary and interpreter to the embassy of Sir Gore Ouseley to Persia. As there were several talented linguists on the staff of the embassy (not to mention Ouseley himself) Price’s Persian must have been truly exceptional — it is said his “ear was so acute that he was able to write down with complete accuracy the words of a Persian song he had heard.” (ODNB). His Journal was first published in April 1825, over a decade after his return to England. A second edition was printed in Oct

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