The history of Nadir Shah, formerly called Thamas Kuli Khan, the present emperor of Persia. To which is prefix'd a short history of the Moghol emperors. At the end is inserted, a catalogue of about two hundred manuscripts in the Persic and other oriental languages, collected in the east …

FRASER, James.

Published by London, W. Strahan for the author, 1742., 1742

About this Item

2 parts in 1 vol., 8vo, pp. [2], vi, 234, [6 (index and errata)]; 40; second part with own title-page; with folding engraved frontispiece portrait of the Shah and folding engraved map ('A map of the Moghol empire and part of Tartary'), engraved initials and headpieces; map somewhat browned; a very good, crisp and clean copy in contemporary calf, double gilt fillet border to covers, spine in compartments with handwritten spine label; lower board almost detached, some wear to extremities and a few marks to covers; armorial bookplate of James Plunkett, Earl of Fingall.First edition of 'the first book in English treating of the Persian rulerNadir Shah, "the scourge of God", who had invaded India in 1737 8' (ODNB), by the Scottish orientalist James Fraser (1713 54). Fraser served with the East India Company for ten years, at Mocha in Yemen and at Khambhat and Surat in Western India, mastering languages and collecting manuscripts, coins and miniatures. Returning to Britain in 1740, he published this History two years later: 'It is important not only for a first-hand account of contemporary events probably written byWilliam Cockill, who had served in Persia, but also for historical texts and original documents translated from Persian byFraser' (ODNB). The second part comprises a catalogue of Fraser's oriental manuscripts, arranged by subject. 'After his deathFraser'scollection of about 200 oriental manuscripts, including Avestan and Sanskrit, which he had purchased at Surat, Cambay, andAhmadabad, was bought from his widow for the Radcliffe Library at Oxford; it was transferred to the Bodleian Library on 10 May 1872. His claim that his forty-one "Sanskerrit" manuscripts "formed the first collection of that kind ever brought into Europe" … appears to be valid' (ibid.).Blackmer 629; ESTC T86075 (another issue appeared in the same year with fewer booksellers in the imprin t). Seller Inventory # GM401

Bibliographic Details

Title: The history of Nadir Shah, formerly called ...

Publisher: London, W. Strahan for the author, 1742.

Publication Date: 1742

Edition: 1st Edition