A Literary History of Persia, Volume IV

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 Four: Modern Times (1500-1924)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Part I An Outline of Persian History During the Last Four Centuries
I. Some General Considerations On the Safawi Dynasty.
II. The Creation of the Safawi Power to 930/1524. Shah Isma’il and His Ancestors
III. Culmination and Decline of the Safawi Power, From Shah Tahmasp (A.D. 1524-1576) to Shah Husayn (A.D. 1694-1722)
IV. An Outline of the History of Persia During the Last Two Centuries (A.D. 1722-1922)

Part II Persian Verse During the Last Four Centuries
V. Some General Considerations On the Later and Especially the Religious Poetry of the Persians
VI. Poets of the Classical Tradition. Pre-Qajar Period (A.D. 1500-1800)
VII. Poets of the Qajar Period

Part III Persian Prose During the Last Four Centuries
VIII. The Orthodox Shi’a Faith and Its Exponents, the Mujtahids and Mullas
IX. Prose Writers Until A.D. 1850
X. The Most Modern Developments (A.D. 1850 Onwards)

Index