A Literary History of Persia, Volume III

Description

The classic work on the subject, A Literary History of Persia by Edward Granville Browneis still the standard work in the English language on the history of Persia and Persian literature. It spans four volumes (2,256 pages) and took about twenty-five years to write. Although it concentrates on Persian literature, it also surveys all aspects of Persian culture from Iranian pre-history to the twentieth century.

This edition is bound in a reinforced cloth cover in four volumes as in the original edition. Professor J.T.P De Bruijn of the University of Leiden has written a new introduction.

The remarkable freshness and liveliness of Browne’s prose will astonish readers. In addition to being a work of reference it is a book which may be read strictly for pleasure. J.T.P. De Bruijn’s new introduction surveys the history, significance and continued value of the work.

The Volumes are:

I: Persian literature from the beginning to Ferdowsi (1000 A.D.).
II: Two; From Ferdowsi to Saadi (1000-1290).
III: Three; The Tartar Dominion (1265-1502).
IV: Four, Modern Times (1500-1924).

REVIEWS

… this work … could in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxon world with full right be judged and evaluated as a standard work.

— Franz Babinger

One feature of his work that has definitely withstood the test of time remains to be mentioned: the translations. A Literary History of Persia abounds with specimens of his great skill in rendering Persian poetry into English verse which, though marked by the translator’s period in style and wording, are still extremely readable and provide as true an impression of the originals as this is possible at all. By this he has best succeeded in the ultimate aim of his lifework: to act as an intermediary between the great culture of Persia and a modern readership.

— H.T.P De Bruijn (from the introduction)

Volume Three: The Tartar Dominion (1265-1502)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Book I The Mongol Il-Khans of Persia, From the Death of Hulagu to the Extinction of the Dynasty (A H 663-737 = A D 1265-1337)
I The Mongol Il- Khans of Persia (A D 1265-1337)
II The Historians of the Il-Khani Period
III The Poets and Mystics of the Il- Khanid Period

Book II From the Birth to the Death of Timur-I-Lang, Commonly Called Tamerlane (A H 736-807=A D 1335-1405)
IV The Period of Timur
V The Poets and Writers of the Time of Timur

Book III From the Death of Timur to the Rise of the Safawi Dynasty (A H 807-907= A D 1405-1502)
VI History of the Later Timurid Period
VII Prose Writers of the Later Timurid Period
VIII Poets of the Later Timurid Period

Index