Persia Past and Present: A Book of Travel and Research With More Than Two Hundred Illustrations and a Map (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Persia Past and Present: A Book of Travel and Research With More Than Two Hundred Illustrations and a Map<br><br>The preparation of this volume has been a work after my own heart for the past three years and I am now almost sorry that it is finished although it has been carried forward amid many distractions of an official and public nature besides my regular duties at the University. I have entitled it a book of travel and research having essayed the somewhat difficult task of combining these two themes into a union which I hope will be found true at least in spirit even if imperfect when judged by the standards that I should like to uphold.<br><br>I was tempted at first to label some of the chapters like those on Takht-i Suleiman Kangavar Ragha and a part of the section on the Old Persian Inscriptions with a warning ''this chapter is dedicated to the student'' and to prefix to other chapters like those on the different cities By Caravan and Cavalcade Pasargadae and Persepolis a prefatory line ''dedicated to the general reader.'' I decided against such a procedure because I believe that the interests of both are ulti mately one and if the general reader enjoys a comfortable forty winks while certain technical matters are being discussed he will awaken refreshed to resume his interest at a point where the specialist may begin to nod. But these very comments may have in themselves a somnolent efi''ect and defeat their own end by superinducing the results they are seeking to avert. For that reason I shall refrain from adding others and shall proceed rather to bring out the points which I wish to emphasize.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases an imperfection in the original such as a blemish or missing page may be replicated in our edition. We do however repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.