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Isfahan: Pearl of Persia
Once one of the largest cities in the world, Isfahan is an ancient metropolis that sits across timeless trade routes. It became the glittering capital of Iran’s greatest dynasty, the Safavids, during the 16th century. Shah Abbas I (1587–1629) in particular helped to transform it into a city rich in art, cultural wonders, and architecture rich in form and surface decoration. Reprinted for the first time in 40 years, this astounding survey provides a history of the city from its earliest days up through the early 20th century and features dozens of photographs, engravings, and examples of the tilework and architecture from across the centuries that make Isfahan the cultural crown of Iran.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
21 people want to read
About the author
Wilfrid Blunt
55 books2 followersnote: This profile is for the artist and gardener. For the poet go here: Wilfrid Scarwen Blunt
Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt was an artist, art teacher, author and curator of the Watts Museum near Guildford.
Blunt received a scholarship to Marlborough College where he studied between 1914 and 1920.
After a year at Worcester College, Oxford, Blunt switched to the Atelier Moderne in Paris to become an artist. By the following year he was an engraving student at the Royal College of Art, London where he received an Associates degree in 1923.
Blunt joined Haileybury College, Hertfordshire, as its art instructor in 1923. He spent the year 1933 on leave training as a concert singer in Italy and Germany, but pursued singing only avocationally. Europe broadened his cultural outlook enough that returning to a provincial school was no longer rewarding. Blunt researched and published work on the architect William Wilkins, who had designed the buildings of Haileybury in 1806. The previous year, a family connection got him a position of second drawing master at Eton College.
In 1950, Blunt wrote his most acclaimed book The Art of Botanical Illustration, together with W.T. Stearn, for which he was awarded the Veitch Gold Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. At Eton he encouraged italic handwriting, publishing the book Sweet Roman Hand on the subject in 1952. Blunt retired from Eton in 1959 and joined the Watts Gallery Museum in Compton, near Guildford, as a curator. When he retired from the Gallery in 1983 he was allowed to live in the curator's house until his death. His brothers were Christopher Evelyn Blunt, a noted numismatist, and Anthony Blunt, the eminent art historian (and spy).
source:Wilfrid Blunt
Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt was an artist, art teacher, author and curator of the Watts Museum near Guildford.
Blunt received a scholarship to Marlborough College where he studied between 1914 and 1920.
After a year at Worcester College, Oxford, Blunt switched to the Atelier Moderne in Paris to become an artist. By the following year he was an engraving student at the Royal College of Art, London where he received an Associates degree in 1923.
Blunt joined Haileybury College, Hertfordshire, as its art instructor in 1923. He spent the year 1933 on leave training as a concert singer in Italy and Germany, but pursued singing only avocationally. Europe broadened his cultural outlook enough that returning to a provincial school was no longer rewarding. Blunt researched and published work on the architect William Wilkins, who had designed the buildings of Haileybury in 1806. The previous year, a family connection got him a position of second drawing master at Eton College.
In 1950, Blunt wrote his most acclaimed book The Art of Botanical Illustration, together with W.T. Stearn, for which he was awarded the Veitch Gold Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. At Eton he encouraged italic handwriting, publishing the book Sweet Roman Hand on the subject in 1952. Blunt retired from Eton in 1959 and joined the Watts Gallery Museum in Compton, near Guildford, as a curator. When he retired from the Gallery in 1983 he was allowed to live in the curator's house until his death. His brothers were Christopher Evelyn Blunt, a noted numismatist, and Anthony Blunt, the eminent art historian (and spy).
source:Wilfrid Blunt
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2018
great photos, interesting text
In the year 1629, small groups of fishermen began living on the rocky shores of my small peninsula in Massachusetts, thus founding---albeit indirectly---the future town of Marblehead. This is my one connection to the Iranian city of Isfahan, because in the same year its most famous ruler, Shah Abbas the Great, died after a glorious reign of 42 years. While Marblehead would remain a tiny fishing village for another century or more, Isfahan was already renowned throughout the world as a city of architectural wonders. More would be built during the reigns of the following Safavid kings, though none of his descendants measured up to Shah Abbas I.
In ISFAHAN: PEARL OF PERSIA, Blunt has compiled a fascinating account of the city, mostly during its period as capital of the Safavid empire, a period that ended in the Afghan conquest and subsequent destruction of the 1720s and `30s. Though the text covers pre-Islamic times, the rule of the Timurids, and also the 19th century decline as well as a bit of the 20th`s revival, the bulk of the book concentrates on Isfahan's time of glory in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Since large numbers of Western travellers and diplomats visited the city, we can read many of the very lively descriptions they left for posterity---of the buildings, the rulers, city life, and the people and their customs. A chapter describes the Christian residents: the Armenian colony and the various missionary fathers who attempted in vain to make conversions. Another covers both the feasting at the royal court and the buildings created to give it place. A third discusses the minor arts--carpets, gardens, and ceramics. Blunt also reviews the most famous of the 19th century European visitors to Isfahan and includes a large number of their black and white drawings from the pre-photojournalism age. Coupled with Swaan's excellent photographs of the buildings in exquisite detail, many in color, the text comes alive. I found the whole book a fascinating read, even if, published in 1966, it cannot bring us up to date on the vicissitudes of the old city since the Islamic revolution of 1980. For anyone who would like to put Isfahan's fabled architectural wonders (the bridges, the Maidan, the Ali Qapu palace, the Shaikh Lutfullah Mosque, the Masjid-e-Shah, the Theological College of the Mother of the Shah, and many others) together with an account of the history and life of this center of world civilization, this book is a must. While there are many books on the subject, I have never found one with a warmer, more affectionate approach to Isfahan, a city which it is my great misfortune never to have visited.
In the year 1629, small groups of fishermen began living on the rocky shores of my small peninsula in Massachusetts, thus founding---albeit indirectly---the future town of Marblehead. This is my one connection to the Iranian city of Isfahan, because in the same year its most famous ruler, Shah Abbas the Great, died after a glorious reign of 42 years. While Marblehead would remain a tiny fishing village for another century or more, Isfahan was already renowned throughout the world as a city of architectural wonders. More would be built during the reigns of the following Safavid kings, though none of his descendants measured up to Shah Abbas I.
In ISFAHAN: PEARL OF PERSIA, Blunt has compiled a fascinating account of the city, mostly during its period as capital of the Safavid empire, a period that ended in the Afghan conquest and subsequent destruction of the 1720s and `30s. Though the text covers pre-Islamic times, the rule of the Timurids, and also the 19th century decline as well as a bit of the 20th`s revival, the bulk of the book concentrates on Isfahan's time of glory in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Since large numbers of Western travellers and diplomats visited the city, we can read many of the very lively descriptions they left for posterity---of the buildings, the rulers, city life, and the people and their customs. A chapter describes the Christian residents: the Armenian colony and the various missionary fathers who attempted in vain to make conversions. Another covers both the feasting at the royal court and the buildings created to give it place. A third discusses the minor arts--carpets, gardens, and ceramics. Blunt also reviews the most famous of the 19th century European visitors to Isfahan and includes a large number of their black and white drawings from the pre-photojournalism age. Coupled with Swaan's excellent photographs of the buildings in exquisite detail, many in color, the text comes alive. I found the whole book a fascinating read, even if, published in 1966, it cannot bring us up to date on the vicissitudes of the old city since the Islamic revolution of 1980. For anyone who would like to put Isfahan's fabled architectural wonders (the bridges, the Maidan, the Ali Qapu palace, the Shaikh Lutfullah Mosque, the Masjid-e-Shah, the Theological College of the Mother of the Shah, and many others) together with an account of the history and life of this center of world civilization, this book is a must. While there are many books on the subject, I have never found one with a warmer, more affectionate approach to Isfahan, a city which it is my great misfortune never to have visited.
July 4, 2014
This book is old-fashioned - in terms of the language, the photo quality, and perhaps most importantly, the research content. Many of the quotes are from limited English translations, when better versions have now been published. Even books that were originally published in English have sometimes been quoted in a romanticised version.
However, it is possible to read Mr Blunt's book through, as a story, and get some idea about the development of Isfahan, whatever your previous knowledge.
Those with existing specialist knowledge will be impatient that the newer research has not been included. Those who know less may not want to have their ideas swayed by the fictional and distinctly orientalist elements in the prose.
I've given it three stars as it was one of the first books I read on Isfahan - and it got me interested. Even though I do know better now ...
However, it is possible to read Mr Blunt's book through, as a story, and get some idea about the development of Isfahan, whatever your previous knowledge.
Those with existing specialist knowledge will be impatient that the newer research has not been included. Those who know less may not want to have their ideas swayed by the fictional and distinctly orientalist elements in the prose.
I've given it three stars as it was one of the first books I read on Isfahan - and it got me interested. Even though I do know better now ...
February 4, 2013
I read this book ages ago because I'm fascinated by this part of the world. Well, the pre-20th century part anyway. The prose is a bit flowerly and dated but Blunt's books is one of the few in English that's accessible to the non-specialist.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews