Description

A rare Persian lithographed book contains illustrated short stories. We could not find any record in literature available to us nor any institutional example son Worldcat, although tracing Persian books with variations in titles is not always precise.

Provenience

The book was purchased in the second half of the 19th century probably in Persia by John Fargues, an assistant superintendent of the English telegraph staff in Iran, a member of the Asiatic Society in Paris and a translator from Persian. Fargues was known for his translation of a treatise on Persian tiles and ceramics by Ali Muhammas Isfahani (active 1870s-1888) and published it under the title On the Manufacture of Modern Kashi Earthenware Tiles and Vases (Karimi 2013, p. 18).

Fargues is signed with a manuscript annotation “J. Fargues” on the first blank page.

Still in the 19th century the book came to the collection of Charles-Henri-Auguste Schefer (1820 – 1898), a professor at Ecole des languages orientales, translator and bibliophile. His collection and estate were sold at auctions in 1898 and 1899. The annotations on a paper, mounted in this book, are typical for the collection, the book was purchased with. Several books connect this collection and the inserted notes directly with Charles-Henri-Auguste Schefer through the auction catalogues of his estate and through his ex-libris.