Abstract
This article contributes to discussions of technology transfer in the modernisation of Iran through the study of a neglected episode in the memoirs of an early Qajar traveller to England. Arguing for the importance of papyrology to cultural historians, it deals with the irony by which in the early nineteenth century Iran was able to import modern print technology but not the new papermaking skills that printing required. By building on references in the safar-nāma of Mīrzā Ṣāliḥ Shīrāzī, the main body of the “notes” reconstructs the Mīrzā's tour of an industrialised English paper factory in 1818 and the light it sheds on Iran's struggles to develop a modern paper industry.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
