Mr Mustafavi (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. English language edition of the guide issued for the Ibn Sina / Avicenna's millennium celebrations (Foreword). Translated from the original Persian by H.A.S. Pessayan of Tehran University, presumably for visiting dignitaries and overseas visitors. Original navy cloth gilt-lettered with emblem to the front 12x17cm. Printed by Taban Press under the supervision of Major Pazhum of the General Staff. Multiple numberings: (3)pp tissue-guarded portraits; (3), (1), 41, (1), 19, 9, (1), 12pp including several b/w photos, with folding Hamadan plan laid in. This copy was deaccessioned from the British Museum's Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, with several small ink stamps within (one overstamped "Withdrawn"), and barcode sticker to the title page. The covers are otherwise very good, rubbed in places to the gilt, faded to the spine and top section of the lower board, paper to the front hinge split, but binding holding. The interiors are near fine, yellowing to the tissue guards, and the plan neatly folded (now loose, it was originally tipped in and retains its stub). Hamadan (Ecbatana), one of Iran's oldest continually inhabited cities, was capital of the Medes, the Summer capital of the Achaemenians, an important cultural and trading hub, and home to a significant Jewish community. In spite of the embargo imposed following nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1951, Prime Minister Mossadegh attached much importance to financing Hamadan's redevelopment, and to the Avicenna celebrations centred there to promote national pride, and Iran's identity to the outside world. Dated Favardin 1332 (March - April 1953), this was issued shortly before the coup that led to his downfall (August 1953). The celebrations themselves were delayed into 1954. The portraits are of the Shah full-length in military dress, his second wife Queen Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, and elder sister Princess Shams Pahlavi. The Foreword is by Brigadier-General Hossein Ali Razmara, Head of the Geographical Division. Part I covers history and archaeology by Mr Mustafavi (Archaeological Department Head and Secretary for the Society of Preservation of National Monuments) and Mr Kambiz (Supervisor of Excavations), and geography, politics, and economics by the Geographical Section. Part II is a contemporary description with directory by the Hamadan Governor's Office and Hamadan Brigade (covering location, avenues and streets, language, water, lighting, aerodrome, filling stations, Government offices, banks, police stations, Census Department, bus services, Registration Marriage and Divorce Bureaux, schools, hospitals, chemists, doctors, travel agencies, printers, hotels, guesthouses, shrines and historical monuments, mosques, fountains and subterranean canals, Armenian and Jewish Temples). Part III is Sadig Vahdat's list of "Famous Men of Hamadan - Poets, Writers, Mystics, Philosophers, Ministers and Statesmen". A section on "Ibn Sina and his Millenium" by Professor Zabihollah Safa of Tehran University includes a full-page architect's model of Hooshang Seyhoun's Modernist Mausoleum which would be completed in 1954. The folding Hamadan plan, 27x32cm (approx 1/11,000), printed in black and red, is by the Geographical Section. Centred on Pahlavi Square, coverage is bounded by Baba Taher Mausoleum (N), Mosalla Hill (E), the American Hospital (S), and Jewish Cemetery and Dariush Square (W). This captures the layout of the city prior to major expansion. Details include Government, historical and other major buildings, avenue and street names, and river. …