[Rarebooks] fa: JAMES MORIER - ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA OF ISPAHAN IN ENGLAND - 1st Ed. 1828

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, February 7. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching for the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/hakjrxo

Thanks again,
Ardwight Chamberlain

[James Justinian Morier:] The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, in England. London: John Murray, 1828. FIRST EDITION. Two volumes, small 8vo (18.5 cm), untrimmed in period-style blue boards, cloth spines, printed spine labels; xxxii+306; [4]+352 pp.; half-title in vol. II as called for.

Charming satirical account of a fictional Persian delegation's visit to England, narrated by the Persian ambassador's wide-eyed, roguish secretary. A tale of Anglo-Islamic culture clash (quite timely, things being what they are today) that is surprisingly sympathetic to its Eastern characters; if anything, it is the English who are the primary targets of the work's gentle satire. James Justinian Morier (1780-1849), British diplomat, traveller, and author, knew something of his subject: he had accompanied Lord Elgin through Egypt as his secretary, and from 1808-1816 served as a British representative at the court of the Shah, accompanying the Iranian envoy to England in 1809-10. He translated his experience into two popular comic novels, this being the sequel to his Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan (1824).

Mild toning and dust-soiling to the untrimmed edges of the text block, light intermittent damp-stain to the bottom edge of vol. I, a few occasional small spots, else a clean and sound copy with nice wide margins, firmly bound. Early ownership signatures of Lord Abercromby and J. Lindsay Jnr. (the latter having also written on the front flyleaf: "By Mr. Morier, attached to the Persian Embassy"); later bookplate of Brian H. Gill.