Bidspirit auction | Group of Ten Manuscript folios

Group of Ten Manuscript folios - Persia and Turkey, half 19th century An interesting group of folios, mostly of an epistolary nature, handwritten in Arabic, Persian and Ottoman Turkish. As with the following lots, the content of the papers often refers to diplomatic issues between Russia and Persia and all folios date around the mid-19th century. Most of the writings are in Persian and concern the Persian Empire, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, territories that came under the control of the Russian Empire following the Russo- Persian wars of the early 19th century. The hypothesis is therefore that these are epistles, travel permits and letters containing historical events from the private library of a diplomat serving Russia during the period of the Great Game, a term used to describe the strategic and diplomatic rivalry between the British Empire and the Russian Empire in the 19th century for control of Central Asia. This lot includes: - A firman in Ottoman Turkish. 11 lines to the page, text in diwani script dated 1261 AH (1845-1846 AD). Inscription in Latin characters and signature on the reverse. - A printed pamphlet in Arabic. It is an advertisement for an important newspaper of the period, Hadiqat Al-Akhbar (The Garden of News) edited by Khalil al-Khuri, a central figure in the Nadha movement. The newspaper was the first Arabic paper published in Beirut, and its origins can be traced back to a group of Syrians gathered in the Médawar Literary Circle. - A safe-conduct pass in Persian for what is described as a ”servant of the Russian ambassador”. Dated 1264 AH (1848 AD). - A travel permit for a diplomat named Demezon headed to Istanbul. Persian text on paper, dated 1257 AH (1842 AD) - Letter of interest for a job, Persian text on paper, dated in Latin characters 1837; - Letter requesting a travel, permit, addressed to the Russian ambassador. Persian text on paper, dated 1202 (1837 AD). Also dated in Latin characters 1837 at top. - Letter of condolence. Persian text on paper and short inscription in French on the verso (lettre de condoliance) - Letter of condolence. Persian text on paper and short French inscription on the verso (lettre de condoliance de l'Emir Nijan) - Letter about a theft, dated 1864 AD - Letter written by Mohammad Tahri Nakhjabani making himself available, presumably to work for the ambassador.