1 Boréâs Background
Neither Gregory XVI (1831â1846) nor Pius IX (1846â1878) initiated direct communication with Fath Ê¿Ali Shahâs grandson and successor, Mohammad Shah (r. 1834â1848) (Fig. 3.1). However, when the young Frenchman Eugène Boré (1809â1878) (Fig. 3.2) arrived in Iran early in Mohammad Shahâs reign, the foundations were lain for the renewal of Papal ties with the Qajar kings. Boré was such an important figure in the developing relationship between Tehran and the Vatican during Mohammad Shahâs reign that he deserves particular attention. His path to Iran, though, was anything but direct.
Mohammad Shah. Original gouache painting, 16.5 Ã 24.2 cm; full-length portrait of Mohammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834â35, 1838) in uniform with sash and order, holding bow and arrows, jeweled plume etc. on hat. Inscription with latinized name reads: âMehmet Shahâ. Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:231140/
Eugène Boré in later life
Frontispiece in R oumain de la Ralla ye 1894
A native of Angers, Boré was the son of a retired army officer who had died in 1812.1 Distinguished by âhis piety, his work and his success,â he attracted the notice of Mgr Denis-Antoine-Luc Frayssinous (1765â1841) who had been appointed Grand Master of the University, roughly equivalent to Minister of Education,2 in 1822.3 In 1826 Frayssinous arranged a scholarship for Boré at the Collège Stanislas, a private Catholic boarding school in Paris founded in 1804 by the Abbé Claude-Rosalie Liautard (1774â1842),4 who âhad built the school to reflect conservative Catholic and legitimist ideals,â and considered it âa foundation stone in the rebuilding of a Catholic Franceâ following the French Revolution.5 There Boré excelled.6 In 1828 he abandoned the study of law and redirected his focus towards Semitic languages. In the winter of 1829/30 he joined the group of ardent young Catholics who gathered about the Abbé Félicité-Robert de Lamennais (1782â1854) at La Chênaie in Brittany, quickly becaming a âdiscipleâ and favorite of its spiritual leader.7
Thanks in large part to Lamennais,8 whom he visited at La Chênaie in the school holidays9 and with whom he maintained a regular correspondence,10 Boré pursued his philological studies at the Collège de France. In 1832 he described his six-day work week as follows: three days studying Arabic and Persian with Antoine-Isaac Silvestre de Sacy (1758â1838) and Chinese with Stanislas Julien (1797â1873), and three were spent reading in the Royal Library. He looked forward to soon beginning Sanskrit with Eugène Burnouf (1801â1852).11
On April 29th, 1833, Boré was elected a member of the Société Asiatique,12 the perpetual president of which, following the death of the Sinologist Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat (1788â1832), was his teacher Silvestre de Sacy.13 In congratulating Boré on this distinction, Lamennais exhorted him to study not only languages but geography, history, numismatics, archaeology and other disciplines because, while languages were necessary for reading scholarly literature, they were only a means to an end, not ends in themselves.14 The following year Boré published his first scholarly article on the Lamp of the Sanctuary by the 13th century writer Bar Hebraeus (1226â1286).15 In 1834 Boré also began learning Armenian16 and in 1835 he published the translation of an Armenian text describing the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1454.17
When Paul-Ãmile Le Vaillant de Florival (1799â1862), professor of Armenian at the Ãcole spéciale des Langues Orientales, was granted leave in 1834, the Minister of Public Instruction, François Guizot (1787â1874), appointed Boré as his temporary replacement.18 Having performed his duties admirably he was charged by the Ministry with a âliterary missionâ to Venice in the autumn of 1834, at which time he visited the monastery of the Mekhitarists in Venice19 and wrote a history of them for the Superior of the order. Two years after its publication in Venice, Boréâs brother Léon arranged for it to be republished in Paris, accompanied by a précis of the language, literature, religious history and geography of Armenia.20 On April 13th, 1836, Boré outlined his ongoing research projects in a letter to Lamennais. These included a critical edition of Moses KhorenacÊ¿iâs history of Armenia21 and a life of Gregory the Illuminator.22
In the summer of 1837 Boré visited the Tyrol before returning to Venice where âchanceâ led him on to Vienna.23 There he continued his study of Armenian24 and conceived an ambitious plan for a study tour in the East, the outlines of which are contained in a proposal addressed to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, dated October 26th, 1837.25 After begging leave to submit his proposal to the august assembly which counted among its members both those to whom Boré owed what little he knew at that stage in his career, and those whose counsel had guided him up to that point, Boré drew his readersâ attention to the importance of Lebanon and its monasteries, both as refuges of multiple ancient Christian communities and as repositories of as yet undiscovered works of Syriac literature. From Lebanon Boré intended to travel to Nablus in order to study the language and current state of the Samaritans, before they were rendered extinct. This was certain to be of interest to the fields of religion, Biblical exegesis, history and philology. It was also important to see whether the small, still extant Samaritan community possessed any Greek or Arabic versions or commentaries on the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). Additionally, in the event that the Academy received a commission from the Royal Library and the Museum of Antiquities (Louvre), Boré offered to expand the scope of his project in order to acquire manuscripts, coins and inscriptions. Further, he promised to make squeezes of any inscriptions that could not be removed from their findspots and brought back to France.
Boré also proposed visiting Jerusalem; crossing the Jordan into the Hauran, where Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784â1817) had documented the presence of numerous inscriptions in 1810 and 1812;26 and then, following the Orontes, visit Damascus and Palmyra as well. From Syria, Boré intended to proceed to Mesopotamia where two ânewâ populations to study lived â the Armenians and the Kurds. This would involve linguistic analysis with the intention of determining whether the ancient dialect of Babylonia, commonly known as Chaldaean, was a misnomer or not, and whether the true Chaldaean language had affinities with Old Persian, Pahlavi, Median and Armenian. In northern Mesopotamia Boré was especially interested in Nisibis and Edessa (mod. Urfa), as well as the borders of southern Armenia, the ruins of Tigranocerta27 and the monuments near Lake Van described by Moses KhorenacÊ¿i and attributed to Semiramis.28 In Armenia proper Boré intended visiting Echmiadzin, with its rich holdings of manuscripts. In conclusion, Boré stressed that the primary goal of his journey was to put into practice the learning he had received from his distinguished professors, particularly of Syriac, in which he had been inspired by Ãtienne-Marc Quatremère (1782â1857) and which he felt had historically been neglected by scholars.
Boré did not, however, wait for a positive reply to his proposal before departing for the East.29 After spending about two months in Vienna, he crossed Austria, travelling through Styria and what had once been Illyria.30 On November 13th Boré wrote to his brother from Trieste.31 He carried with him âa small, selected Oriental libraryâ that included philological works ordered from Germany which he felt would be useful when he no longer had access to a proper library, a situation in which he believed he might find himself for a considerable period of time.32 This makes it clear that, however precarious his funding may have been, Boré was intent on pursuing his mission regardless of the outcome of his application to the Académie. Similarly, in foreshadowing a series of letters âfrom a Catholic travellerâ that he intended to send to his brother Léon, he announced that the fifth would be devoted to the Maronites, amongst whom he expected to spend some time,33 noting also that, if all went well, he would be in Constantinople around the end of November where he expected to find his funds and his books, referring to a list of titles he had previously asked his brother to procure and ship to him.
On November 24th, 1837, less than a month after Boré drafted his proposal, it was read âwith broad satisfactionâ at a meeting of the Académie. A commision which included the diplomat and Orientalists Pierre-Amédée Jaubert (1779â1847)34 and Ãtienne-Marc Quatremère,35 the Hellenist Charles-Benoît Hase (1780â1864)36 and the Classical archaeologist and art historian Désiré-Raoul Rochette (1790â1854)37 recommended the allocation of an annual subvention of 3000 francs for the duration of Boréâs journey.38 The commissioners also drew up a series of instructions for Boré to follow in his research.39 Two weeks later, at the Académieâs meeting on December 8th, 1837, each of the commissioners presented a series of detailed instructions for Boré. These, however, as foreshadowed in Boréâs own proposal, concerned areas in the Levant, Syria and northern Mesopotamia that the young traveller never visited. Rather, for reasons that were not clear at the time, the course of Boréâs travels took quite a different turn.
As Boré explained in a letter to Adolphe Dureau de La Malle (1777â1857), president of the Académie, dated Constantinople, January 4th, 1838, while in Vienna he met his good friend Mathurin-Joseph Cor (1805â1854),40 the translator and personal secretary of the Ottoman Foreign Minister ReÈid PaÈa. Mindful of Corâs advantageous position and the entrée he could facilitate in Constantinople, Boré jettisoned his original plan and headed to the Ottoman capital.41 He also referred to an idea, first planted in his mind by Dureau de La Malle himself, of visiting the imperial library there in order to see what treasures of Classical and Arabic literature it might contain and, if possible, cataloguing them, a task in which Boré hoped he would have the cooperation of the Royal Library in Paris.42 When he wrote this letter, Boré had still not learned the outcome of his application for funds to the Académie. As such, he fully expected having to fund his research out of his own pocket.43
Before leaving Vienna Boré tried to prepare himself for his journey by studying botany,44 mineralogy, mathematics and topographical drafting. In early December, 1837, at roughly the same time as the commissionersâ instructions were being published, Boré arrived in Constantinople. He spent the winter studying Turkish and modern Armenian in order to improve both his writing and speaking in these languages. His Armenian teacher was an Armenian Catholic with whom he met thrice weekly, and for whom he prepared written exercises, thanks to which both his written and spoken Armenian improved steadily.45 He noted that his preparations were given a boost by the acquisition of a trove of materials that had belonged to âthe unfortunate Doctor Schultz,â the German-born, French-educated Friedrich Eduard Schulz (1799â1829) who had met his death while travelling in Kurdistan a decade earlier.46 As Boré explained to his brother,
I have just come from the Chancellery of France ⦠The Chancellor, a very recommendable man, spoke to me with the greatest interest. âYou are going,â he told me, âto countries where, a few years ago, a French traveler met with a rather tragic death.â Then he told me about the adventure of the unfortunate Schultz, whom I knew, and who, sent in 1828 by the Government, was massacred by the Kurds, whom he had insulted. âHere,â he added,â is a crate containing a few scraps of his effects, which I have been instructed to sell.â As he said this, he opened it; and, to my great astonishment, I found an infinite number of objects that could only be of use to me, and which I regretted not having brought with me: such as snuffboxes, razors for gifts, road maps, a pocket edition of Chardin, Tavernier, and so on. I havenât put a price on them yet, but Iâll get them cheaply, because in fact they want to get rid of them.47
In another letter to his brother Léon, dated March 25th, 1838, Boré wrote,
I went to visit the objects belonging to the unfortunate Schultz. I canât tell you how happy I was to see and re-examine before my eyes precisely all the works Iâd been missing, and which would have taken me several years to collect, even in Paris; given that some of them are extremely rare and hard to come by. Like me, Schultz had not improvised the material part of his trip. He had made extensive and costly preparations. Nothing was forgotten; everything was calculated with admirable foresight. He showed me how adventurous I would have been in many respects, had he not, involuntarily and against my better judgment, taught me this lesson, by teaching me what I lacked. For the past eight years, these objects have been locked away in a room, and they have precisely what I need, a low price and all relevant. I have found, for example, collections of memoirs and mismatched works, sewn or bound together, on certain ancient cities, and especially on Mesopotamia, which like him I want to visit. Some of them are torn from works worth a hundred francs, and Iâll probably get them for very little. My competitors at the auction wonât even know their names. There are some very valuable German works, the titles of which have not even been included in the catalogue, because those who compiled it did not know the language: such as the part of Ritterâs Géographie relative à lâAsie occidentale, 2 mismatched volumes.48 I didnât want to buy the work, which costs over 60 fr. Here are the details of the main items: a dictionary of Arabic (spoken), which I lacked, the journeys of Ker-Porter,49 Morier,50 the Zend-Avesta,51 all the copies of cuneiform inscriptions, which I uselessly regretted not having taken when I left, Le Parfait Maréchal,52 a chemistry and medicine manual, a box for coins, a French-Russian dictionary, for crossing the borders of Armenia, etc., etc., etc. Iâd go on and on if I listed all these literary treasures. As for my cooking, I shall inherit tin-plated dishes, made especially for this trip, knives, etc., etc., and finally a dinner service. Everything is a little damaged, but can be repaired. It is above all the collection of maps that will be precious to me. There are a dozen of them, which I could never have obtained without detaching them, as he had done, from very expensive books and atlases. They are all mounted on canvas and ready for the road. I shall also inherit his wallets, and even his pin, which was a head of Napoleon. A feeling of sadness gripped my soul, seeing all these objects that death was handing over to me. âYour fate,â I said to myself involuntarily, âwill perhaps be similar!â53
In Constantinople Boré was in almost daily contacts with the Vincentian54 or Lazarist missionaries there55 who had been in the Ottoman capital since 1784 when they moved into the church of St. Benedict in Galata that had formerly been the Jesuit headquarters in the Ottoman empire.56 From this point on Boré began to reframe his endeavor as one which aimed not only to serve the human and natural sciences, but âcivilizationâ and Catholicism as well. He began, moreover, to think of himself as a âvoyager-missionary.â
Boréâs Lazarist friends decided to profit from his revised research itinerary by sending one of their number, the French-Italian Lazarist priest Félix Scafi (1804â1848), to examine the state of the Catholic population in Armenia and Iran, establish relations with them and expand their number in the region. Born in Naples when it was under French control, the 37-year old Scafi had come to Constantinople from Rome in 183057 and considered himself French.58 As Boré wrote on February 4th, 1838, he was both happy and honored to have such a travelling companion and to make himself useful to the cause of religion, and he considered the coincidence of his plan with that of the Lazarists to be the work of divine Providence.59 Thus he reversed his former research itinerary, beginning where he had in fact intended to end his travels,60 although he had still not learned whether or not his application to the Académie for funds had been successful.61
However, by the time Boré wrote to his brother Léon on March 25th, 1838, he had received welcome news from Paris. Without fanfare, he referred to the âmandateâ sent to him by the Académie62 and the encouragement he had received from the Minister. He had sent off two letters â the first to Silvestre de Sacy, âto thank him for his generosity and to ask him to offer his thanks to the Académie,â and the second to the Minister of Public Instruction, Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy (1795â1856), expressing his gratitude.63 As he told his brother, when one is on the brink of such a journey, one becomes conscious of all of the specialist knowledge one lacks. Hence, he applied himself with renewed energy to mathematics, in order to be competent in the drawing of architectural plans;64 to botany, in order to identify and collect plants; and to mineralogy. He also worked hard on his written Turkish, an activity, he wrote, that revolved around calligraphy more than grammar or vocabulary.
In company with an elderly Armenian priest, a âconverted schismatic,â i.e. a member of the Gregorian Armenian church who had converted to Catholicism, who would continue tutoring him in Armenian, Boré left Constantinople on May 2nd, 1838, along with Scafi. Boré also hoped to persuade a young, unnamed French physician who was well-versed in botany and other natural sciences to accompany them.65 Finally two servants, one to look after the horses, the other the cooking, were to accompany them. The first was a Muslim Turk named Ê¿Ali who had long been in the service of a paÈa and acted with great dignity and fine manners.66 Boré chose him to present his firmans to the paÈas he encountered along the way, knowing that he would be better received in this capacity than a Christian. The second was an Armenian named Abraham, born in Armenia.67 Boré himself posed as a physician, a profession that he hoped would grant him universal entrée wherever he went, while Scafi travelled incognito out of fear of exciting the suspicions of the âschismatics,â i.e. the non-Catholic Armenians.68 Boré went armed with a firman from the Ottoman Foreign Minister by whom Cor was employed and who had met Boré; letters of recommendation from the same Minister to the principal paÈas of the provinces through which he proposed to travel; letters from the Latin Patriarch to religious authorities in those provinces; and letters from influential Armenians â both Catholic and non-Catholic â including Armenian bankers, for their friends along the way. Armed with these credentials, Boré hoped he would be able to surmount any difficulties that might arise.69
2 Arrival in Iran
Boré and his companions crossed Turkey and Armenia before descending to Salmas where they were received by the Catholic bishop, âMonseigneur Nicolao.â70 This was Nicholas ZayÊ¿a, who had been appointed bishop of Azerbaijan in 1836 after having previously studied at the College of the Propaganda Fide.71 On November 6th, 1838, Boré wrote from Tabriz to Abbé Louis-Florent Leleu (1800â1846), Director of the College of the Lazarists at Constantinople,72 informing him that there were a large number of âChaldaeansâ on the west side of Lake Urmia, where the number of Catholic converts had grown substantially in recent years, despite the efforts of the American Presbyterian missionaries whom he accused of âbuying consciences with gold.â73 At this point Boré had been travelling for almost six months and, despite his earlier intention of wintering at Mosul, he now proposed remaining at Tabriz where he would work on his Kurdish, Persian and Chaldaean, i.e. Urmian Neo-Aramaic. By early December he wrote, âI have my Persian, Turkish and Armenian writing masters. In addition, I have Arab and Chaldean servants, who speak their vernacular to me, so that my room is not unlike the Tower of Babel.â74
For Boré, an ardent nationalist as well as an even more ardent Catholic, France was the secular patron of Catholicism in the East.75 To his mind, all of the calamities afflicting the Christian populations there were rooted in their separation from Rome.76 In a letter written at Tabriz to his brother on New Yearâs Eve, 1838, Boré said he was experiencing a new love of religion and a new understanding of its beneficence, as well as a realization that he might one day be useful to âour holy mother,â the Catholic church, removed from which everything withers and decays. It was to this cause, and the social improvements promised by the revitalized Catholic church, that he wished to devote his life.77 Noting that Persians loved learning, he excoriated the British for having done nothing to promote the education of the population. Even worse, he argued, was the fact that the British were well aware of this and yet were indifferent to it.78
Boré, however, had devised a means to remedy the situation, namely, the establishment of a âuniversityâ at Tabriz with French as the language of instruction. The governor of Azerbaijan province, Mohammad Shahâs brother Qahraman Mirza,79 was interested in Boréâs offer to teach, free of charge, twenty select pupils, provided a suitable venue could be provided. As Boré told his brother, he hoped to use the university as a vehicle for the introduction of a Lazarist mission from which to âexpand the kingdom of God in these lands and nullify the influence of the German and American Protestant missionaries.â80 He expected a definitive answer to his proposal in a few days and, if it were positive, he intended to dispatch Scafi immediately to Constantinople and perhaps Paris in order to rally âreinforcements,â purchase books and collect any other necessary supplies. If this transpired, Boré intended to write a Persian-French grammar and to give the first lessons to the new students while Scafi was away. Once Scafi returned with more teachers, Boré himself would leave in order to fulfill the promises made to the Académie.81
On February 6th, 1839, Boré wrote to Salvandy, the Minister of Public Instruction, outlining his plans for the university at Tabriz and the changes to his itinerary necessitated by them. He was convinced that he must now pursue a quite different, if equally honorable goal for France and for the cause of religion and âcivilization.â The proposal was warmly received by both Qahraman Mirza, and the Shahâs Francophone uncle, Malek Qasem Mirza, as well as by the younger generation of Tabrizis who, up to that point, had only been able to learn French from a Swiss cook working in Tabriz.82 In fact, as Boré revealed to his brother in a letter dated January 6th, 1839,
A mission would be attached to the school. This, in fact, is the real aim of our entire enterprise; and it is in order to persuade the head of the Lazarist congregation to adopt this project that Mr. Scafi is leaving Tauris the day after tomorrow, and venturing, in January, through the snows of Armenia, to go first to Constantinople, and no doubt from there to Paris.83
Boréâs seemingly boundless energy is revealed by the contents of a letter to Dureau de La Malle, dated February 6th, 1839. In it Boré mentioned, without any hint of boasting, that he had already written a comparative grammatical analysis of the Chaldaean (Neo-Aramaic) spoken in the mountains of Kurdistan and Syriac; a grammar of the local dialect and small lexicon, in which the Arabic, Kurdish and Armenian loanwords in use were identified; and a grammar of Azeri Turkish, as spoken by the Afshar and Qajar tribes, which he considered a transitional dialect between eastern Chagatay and western Osmanli Turkish. He was also completing a Persian-French grammar for his new university. As a result, presumably, of Boréâs altered plans, he explained that his journey to Chaldaea (Iraq) and Syria had been ânecessarily postponedâ but, prior to returning to France, he intended to identify suitable substitutes for those parts of the instructions that were no longer feasible due to changes in his itinerary.84
In a letter to Salvandy, the Minister of Public Instruction, also written on February 6th, Boré revealed,
I have also learned that His Majesty is eager to have a history of Napoléon, adorned with engravings and depicting his battles along with the other most memorable facts of his life. He is full of admiration for the great Emperor, whose poor and incomplete biography, extracted from Walter Scottâs false history,85 he reads and rereads. If he were to receive this gift from the Minister of Public Instruction of France, along with a fine copy of the national poem the Shah-Nameh (Kingâs Book), published by M. Mohl86 and printed by the government, to which M. Ãtienne Quatremèreâs Histoire des Mongols87 and a few other works useful to Persia could be added, he would be very sensitive to this mark of attention; and he would no doubt show his gratitude in a marked manner.88
Boréâs enthusiasm for battling what he considered the pernicious influence of American Protestant missionaries in Iran;89 for converting Armenian âschismaticsâ to Catholicism; and for seeing France, the sole protector of Catholics in the East, embrace its leading role, are on full display in the second part of his memoir âOn Chaldaea and the Chaldaeans,â addressed to the members of the Académie.90 But perhaps the clearest evidence of his complete and utter devotion to both France and Catholicism was this statement, contained in that memoir: âwhen France is entirely Catholic, it will have the empire of the world.â91 Foreshadowing the political and diplomatic developments of the next few decades, Boré noted that, whereas French influence in Iran had been all but non-existent since the Gardane mission, its memory still survived. A âsecret sympathyâ was driving the Persians to renew their long-suspended ties with France, as manifested clearly by their eagerness to learn and speak French. If the French government were to look favorably upon his proposals, Boré was sure they would bear fruit for the Persian nation, confirming beyond all doubt the mission of devotion and civilizing propaganda that the French nation must arrogate to itself for the sake of all humanity. And, as a by-product, Boré noted that the expansion of French influence internationally would also generate commercial benefits for French industry. Finally, Boré stressed that, to guarantee success, it was imperative that a French consulate be established at Tabriz.92
In Boréâs letter to his friend Eugène of May 1st, 1839, he let him know that a copy of Antoine-Vincent Arnaultâs (1766â1834) life of Napoleon, with illustrations by various artists including Horace Vernet, to supplant what he considered the inferior biography by Sir Walter Scott, had arrived and been presented to Mohammad Shah.93 In the same letter Boré made it clear that the aim of propagating Catholicism and education in Iran had superseded all of his earlier ambitions, as outlined in previous communications to the Académie. Moreover, Boré admitted as much to Scafi in a letter dated June 6th, 1839, in which he wrote, âI shall renounce my scientific mission, at least for the time being, and try to fulfill another, more worthy and important one.â94 The rather grandiose plan for a âuniversityâ had, however, shrunk to that of a âschoolâ (école), and the necessity of delivering instruction in his own lodgings had required him to severely limit the number of Muslim and Armenian students he could teach to fourteen at the time, among whom were three Armenians and two sons of local grandees (khans).95
The first teaching priority, above all else, was French grammar and spoken French. A French-Persian dictionary was urgently needed and this Boré envisaged writing with his pupils. The sciences would have to await the arrival of the teachers he hoped Scafi would bring with him upon his return to Tabriz.96 Boré also informed Scafi that the engravings of Napoleon, presumably requested separately from the biography mentioned above, had arrived. Boré had sent these on to the Shah who was very pleased with them.97 Further, in the same letter Boré noted that Leleu had written to say that a French ambassador would be coming to Iran. Moreover, if, as rumored, Mohammad Shah was himself coming to Tabriz in two monthsâ time, then Boré fervently hoped to obtain an audience, so that he could describe his projects to him in person.98
It goes without saying that the Herat crisis of 1838; the departure of Sir John McNeill, the British Minister in Tehran; and the damage done thereby to Anglo-Persian relations, all contributed to fostering a propitious atmosphere for the resumption and deepening of Franco-Persian ties. As Boré noted in his letter of June 6th to Scafi, âEngland having broken with them [the Persians], they fervently desire to attach themselves to another nation who could protect them, if need be, from the powerful neighbor who menaces them,â i.e. Russia. âThey are persuaded, moreover, that the French do not have the same interest as the English in preventing the development of industry in their country.â99 Later, he reiterated these beliefs in a letter to the members of the council of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith.100
Boré was so successful in his teaching that, after some months, he felt he had several pupils capable of serving as interpreters and teaching assistants for the French missionaries he hoped would come to Tabriz to teach at his âuniversity.â101 On the other hand, as he wrote to his friend Eugène on July 2nd, 1839, he had received distressing news from Isfahan, where French Catholics had first established themselves under Louis XIV,102 and where formerly two flourishing monasteries existed. Of the three Catholic priests sent there by Rome twelve years earlier, only Derderian remained but, receiving no aid from the Propaganda Fide, he lived in the greatest distress.103 As Boré noted,
The Armenian father, don Giovanni [Derderian] whom the Propaganda sent a dozen years ago ⦠was assisted by two other priests from his nation. He was able to open a school, repair the church and give hope for happy days to the faithful few around him. Unfortunately, death robbed him of his two helpers, and none of the religious villains in Venice or Vienna had the good sense to replace them. Moreover, it is impossible for a lone man, reduced to the bare necessities of life, to hold the rank that befits him, in the eyes of the Persians who judge a manâs dignity by the glitter that surrounds him. At the same time, he must renounce the sweet consolation of winning over the poor of other Christian communions through the benefits of charity. How humiliating for him and the Church he represents, to be reduced to giving way to the last schismatic [Armenian] priest, for want of the means to support his existence, and to renounce all the good works that his zeal and position suggest to him. In the interest of the Churchâs glory, we dare to advise the Propaganda, whose envoy he is, to improve his lot and add companions. Don Giovanni [Derderian], discouraged by the abandonment of his benefactors, is thinking of leaving his post; nevertheless, it would be of the utmost importance to keep him there. He knows the Persian language and the local Armenian dialect; moreover, his dignified conduct and that of his flock, whose virtues contrast admirably with the shortcomings of the pure Armenian class, have won him the esteem of the Muslim clergy and the small community of Catholics. If he were effectively aided and supported, incalculable good would result for the cause of Orthodoxy.104
By August 19th, 1839, when he again wrote to his friend Eugène, Boré had moved from Tabriz to Salmas/Khosrova in order to spend two months of âholidayâ in a cooler climate, perfecting his Chaldaean (Neo-Aramaic).105 In the same letter he announced that he intended to found two more schools, both there and at Urmia, noting,
I speak Chaldean, read Chaldean manuscripts and worry about everything to do with this country. I write, go for walks and ride my two horses, which I bought for 500 fr. or so, one of which, a Kurd-Arab, is so pretty that, when I was vain, I would have loved to trot across the Champs-Ãlysées on him; the other, a Turcoman-Persian, can do twelve leagues in a row; he is as tall as an elephant.106
When the Patriarch General of Chaldaea, Yohannan Hormizd, died on August 16th, 1838,107 the Vatican named Nicholas ZayÊ¿a, bishop of Khosrova, as his successor. As he had already indicated to Scafi in his letter of June 6th, Boré hoped very much to accompany Bishop Nicholas on his inaugural diocesan tour in the middle of October,108 which would range widely and take him to Amedi, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Mosul and Baghdad.109 As we learn from a letter to his friend Eugène dated November 17th, 1839, and sent from Tabriz, Boréâs holidays stretched to three months but did not include the projected tour because, just as he and Nicholas were about to depart, Boré received a firman from Mohammad Shah, approving his university, with a request from the Shah to prolong his stay. Boréâs translation of the firman reads:
May the most glorious and most powerful prince, Qahraman Mirza, our brother, governor of the province of Aderbidjan, light of our eyes and favorite of the stars, know that, through the solicitude of the benevolent and sanctified spirit of our august Majesty, it has been decided: that the honorable M. Eugène Boré, of recognized learning and ability, and one of the pillars of the Church of the Messiah, having made known to the ministers of the victorious kingdom that he had come to the land of the East to propagate instruction, and that, for this purpose, he had settled in Tabriz, upon his request to teach Persian youth the French language and instruct them in the sciences of history, geography, philosophy, physics, geometry and medicine, without demanding any remuneration from the sublime empire, we order our most powerful brother that, in view of the benefits of all kinds resulting from the education of youth and the acquisition of these sciences, respect, protection and encouragement be accorded to the aforementioned M. Eugène Boré; and that, as long as he occupies himself with this noble task, no one will stand in the way of our august will, which has become law. May our brother devote all his care and efforts to its fulfillment. Given in our palace, on the 15th of Rebi, in the year of the Hegira 1455.110
Boré also received a firman from the Shahâs uncle, Malek Mansur Mirza,111 which not only granted him permission to establish a school at Ordushai, eventually opened on October 21st, 1839,112 and indeed anywhere else in the province of Azerbaijan, but recognized the âcommon libertyâ of the âchildren of the Messiah,â and freedom of worship for both Catholics and members of the Church of the East (Nestorians) alike. It read
Know that, in the Empire of the King of Kings, the rival of Djemschid, the light of the world and the favorite of the constellations, we, Prince Melik-Mansour-Mirza, 1â °. authorize M. Boré, Flower of the Garden of the Church of the Children of the Messiah and Pillar of Public Instruction in Iran, to establish, as he sees fit, a school in Ardicher [Ordushai], our fief, and in any other places in the province he chooses. 2â °. As all religions, sects and creeds are free in the kingdom, we announce that, especially the children of the Messiah, will also enjoy common liberty. 3â °. Any Nasrani or Nestorian who wishes to change to the worship of Messiah, or any child of Messiah who wishes to become a Nestorian will be responsible only to the God of his choice; and no man has the power to control his conduct. 4â °. Any offender against this order will be liable to punishment and fines.113
Boré urged the council of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith114 to acknowledge Malek Mansur Mirzaâs largesse by sending him a sword of honor engraved with the words, âTo Melik-Mansour-Mirza, [from] the grateful Catholics.â115 Under the circumstances, Boré felt it would be unwise to leave Tabriz at that time and undertook to spend another year there in order to pursue his educational mission.116 Upon returning from Khosrova and Urmia to Tabriz, Boré learned that the new French ambassadorâs arrival was imminent, and had already prompted local celebrations. As the sole Frenchman established for some time in Iran, Boré expected to be drafted by the ambassador as a cicerone. He was eager to make the acquaintance of the ambassador and his suite.117
Boré also dispatched a second letter dated November 17th, 1839, to the president of the Council of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. While readily admitting that the alleviation of suffering amongst the Chaldaeans exceeded the resources of the Propaganda Fide, Boré insisted that it could and should support the seven or eight Chaldaean Catholic priests who served the population by sending them communion chalices and other liturgical accoutrements needed by the five churches in Khosrova and Urmia, two of which had been taken with violence from the Chaldaean Catholics, but restored by virtue of a firman.118 Boré also urged the Council to support the schools that he had recently established as well as the Catholic missionaries Boré expected were coming from Europe. If this could be done then everything else was guaranteed to succeed and the holy charity of the Society would be rewarded by the âconquest of countless souls.â119 In Boréâs mind, the American Protestant intolerance of Catholicism in Iran was every bit as egregious as the persecution of Catholics then taking place in Prussia, England and Ireland.120
In a memoir addressed to the members of the Council of the Society Boré extolled the benefits that would derive from the appointment of a Papal nuncio at the Persian court. He noted that firmans written in the time of Shah Ê¿Abbas I accorded titles to the Pope that were no less exalted than those reserved for the Shah, a sure sign of the high esteem in which the true âcaliph of God on Earthâ was held. Amicable and peacable ties between the King of Kings and the Pontif of Pontifs would be of inestimable benefit to the Catholics of Persia.121
3 The Embassies of Hoseyn Khan and the Comte de Sercey
In 1838, even before the siege of Herat, against which Britain was vigorously opposed, and an apology had been tendered by the Persian government for the mistreatment of a well-known Persian courier in British employ, Mohammad Shah dispatched Hoseyn Khan on a diplomatic mission. Allegedly, Hoseyn Khan was sent to congratulate Queen Victoria on her accession to the throne, but in reality he had gone to air Mohammad Shahâs grievances against the British Minister, Sir John McNeill, and urge his dismissal. Rebuffed by London, Hoseyn Khan was warmly welcomed in Paris.122 In fact, as Eugène Flandin later observed, Hoseyn Khanâs principal objective in Paris was to secure French assistance in freeing Persia from the weight of British influence, an objective that was achieved when the French government granted him permission to purchase thousands of rifles and to hire a cadre of military instructors.123 Having achieved this, Hoseyn Khan sailed on September 21st, 1839, from Marseille aboard the Mentor, accompanied by eleven military instructors â ten lieutenants of infantry, artillery and cavalry â under the command of Henry Boissier, one of whom, Jules Pichon, also wrote an account of the military mission.124 Desirous of returning the favor, Louis-Philippe I determined to send an embassy to Tehran and, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister and, concurrently, Foreign Minister, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, duc de Dalmatie (1769â1851),125 the task fell to Félix-Ãdouard, comte de Sercey (1802â1881) (Fig. 3.3), the former chargé dâaffaires at St. Petersburg. The duc de Dalmatie also wrote the official Foreign Ministry instructions for Sercey. Among other things, these called for a report on the state of the Catholic establishments in Persia, and a request for Serceyâs observations on the prospects of the school founded by Boré, noting, âA young French Orientalist has undertaken to found a college in Tauris where the languages and sciences of Europe will be taught. Please send me your observations on the chances of success of this establishment, which would be placed under the patronage of the Lazarists.â126
Félix Ãdouard comte de Sercey. Photographie dâune gravure du comte Félix Ãdouard de Sercey, diplomate français, tiré de ses mémoire republiées en 1928 par son petit-fils le comte Laurent de Sercey
Sercey, Laurent de. 1928. Une ambassade extraordinaire: La Perse en 1839â1840, Comte de Sercey. Paris: LâArtisan du Livre. Creative Commons
Sercey and his suite embarked from Toulon on board the corvette Véloce, Capt. Bechameil, on October 30th, 1839.127 Aside from Sercey, the group was composed of
The party visited Palermo, Messina and Athens141 en route to Constantinople which they reached on November 22nd. There, on November 30th, Sercey had an audience with Sultan Abdul Majid and, after long negotiations which included Turkish consultations with Russia, obtained a firman permitting the Véloce to enter the Black Sea. This was only given, however, on the understanding that the naval vessel would hide its guns and masquerade as a merchant vessel, a requirement that was considered degrading to France in some quarters.142 On December 2nd, before the party sailed for Trabzon, they were joined by Scafi and Desgranges, who was to serve as their Turkish interpreter.143 On December 6th,144 however, the Véloce was battered by a fierce storm that claimed some sixty vessels along the Black Sea coast between Varna and Constantinople, including the entire escort of the Véloce. The vessel sprang a leak and had to seek refuge in the harbor of Sinop before proceeding on its way.145 Eventually, a caravan that included the French party left Trabzon for the Persian frontier on December 15th, a hazardous journey to make in the winter.146 Indeed, upon approaching Bayburt the snow was so deep that it covered the tops of the trees.147 At Erzurum the party rested for three days, departing on December 30th.148 They reached DoÄubeyazıt on January 10th, 1840, and two days later entered Maku.149
The following day, at Qarahziyadin, messages arrived from the governor of Khoy â Mohammad Shahâs brother Mohammad Rahim Mirza150 â and it was there that the French delegation was met by Nazar Ê¿Ali Khan, the mihmandar sent by the Shah to escort Sercey and his suite to Tabriz.151 Nazar Ê¿Ali Khan, who had accompanied his uncle, Ê¿Askar Khan Afshar Urumi, to Paris when Fath Ê¿Ali Shah sent him as his ambassador to Napoleon in 1808, still remembered some of his French and delighted in reciting lines from songs that he had learned while in Paris.152 At Khoy, Sercey and his mission searched in vain for the grave of Captain Bernard, a member of Gardaneâs suite who had died there. However, the search yielded nothing more than the vague recollection of a foreign officer who had died at Khoy some years earlier.153
In a letter to his friend Eugène, written on January 16th, 1840, Boré announced that the long-anticipated arrival of the French Minister was imminent. The following day Sercey and his suite left Khoy.154 Boré felt the choice of Sercey for a mission which promised to âonce again raise the cross in Persiaâ had been inspired by Providence and looked forward to being reunited with his old friend Scafi, who served as chaplain to the mission.155 Given the chance to speak with Sercey, Boré intended to air all of his views on why France and French Catholicism must take up the cause of all Catholics in Iran.
4 Serceyâs Arrival
On the evening of January 20th, 1840, Boré was in his room when two young men, clad in elegant military attire, Paul, vicomte Daru, captain of Hussars (1810â1877), and Olivier, vicomte dâArchiac (1811â1848), arrived, accompanied by Scafi. According to Pichon
In Tauris, we had the pleasure of finding one of our compatriots, Monsieur Boré, a member of the Asiatic Society, who has been in Persia for two years and has already established several schools there. When we arrived, Monsieur Boré was confined to bed with a severe fever; so, eager to see us, he wrote to let us know of his condition and to ask us to go to his house. We went. He was delighted to see us. I was particularly recommended to Monsieur Boré by Monsieur dâAbadie, a Basque like myself, a member of the same society, who was on his way to Abyssinia156 and whom I met on the Mentor.157 Monsieur dâAbadie was intimately acquainted with Monsieur Boré, so he gave me a letter for this amiable gentleman, with whom I later became very good friends. Monsieur Boré promised us that, when he was well again, he would act as our constant drogman.158
Four days later, on January 24th Boré rode out with the French officers, alongside the governor of Tabriz, diverse Persian khans, Armenian merchants and Russian and English consular officials from Tabriz, to welcome Sercey and his suite.159 At noon, just as a courier was arriving to announce that Sercey would soon be with them, the clouds parted, letting through a bright shaft of sunlight that Boré took as a celestial sign of âour triumph,â moving him to say, âThis is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.â160 According to Sercey, the well-wishers included officers of the prince, i.e. the Shahâs brother and governor of Azerbaijan, Qahraman Mirza; members of the court; the governor of Tabriz; and Persian troops in the midst of whom were several Frenchmen, including the military instructors who had accompanied Hoseyn Khan, the Persian ambassador recently in Paris, and âthe young and interesting Frenchmanâ Boré.161 No sooner had the large group halted opposite Sercey and his suite, than Boré found himself welcomed by the ambassador and his staff like an old friend. After exchanging greetings Boré was surrounded by a crowd of Frenchmen. He felt as though he had found a brother in each of them and made a point of praising the French government for having included scholars, in addition to diplomats, in the mission.162 In his opinion, the inclusion of Scafi as chaplain conferred an âaugustâ air upon the mission and served to counter claims in some quarters that the French were irreligious.
According to Coste, the mission was not permitted to enter Tabriz until January 26th, a day deemed propitious by Qahraman Mirzaâs astrologers.163 Boré wrote that the embassy had arrived at 1:25 pm on January 22nd (sic), to a salvo of cannons, the only ones remaining on their gun carriages since the death in 1833 of the former crown prince and father of Mohammad Shah, Ê¿Abbas Mirza (1789â1833).164 The French mission celebrated mass every Sunday and, as Boré wrote to his friend Eugène on January 26th, he served as their acolyte.165 Boré also proudly announced that, when the party left for Tehran, from which Mohammad Shah had already departed on December 22nd, 1839, for Isfahan,166 he would form one of their number,167 leaving a young Frenchman named Tournier, who had come from Russia, to continue teaching in his place.168 Certainly Coste was hugely impressed by Boré, for he wrote:
In this town of Tabriz, a long way from our country, there is a Frenchman whose name and articles published in the journal lâUnivers religieux169 are very well known, Mr. Eugène Boré, a distinguished orientalist, who is carrying out a holy and learned mission here. He has opened a school attended by a large number of Armenian children, Catholic or schismatic, Persian Sunni or Shiʾite, to whom he teaches French, arithmetic and geography. Although a layman, Mr. Boré works to spread the Christian faith. His efforts and zeal are not without success, and the esteem that his talents and virtues have earned him from all the followers of the various faiths is a great help to him in his literary and apostolic work.170
The departure of Sercey and his suite for Tehran, however, was delayed by almost three weeks. Although it appeared certain that Mohammad Shah had already left the capital, Sercey could never obtain clear information about this from the authorities in Tabriz, whether because they had orders to detain the French envoy for as long as possible; general lethargy and inefficiency; or because the Shah did not particularly wish to have Sercey as a spectator to the events that would unfold in Isfahan.171 Boré represented the motivation behind Mohammad Shahâs campaign as the suppression of elements that had been harrassing the Armenians of New Julfa,172 yet other sources refer to a revolt at Isfahan.173 Be that as it may, Sercey lost patience and determined to reach Tehran and meet the Shah, or at least ascertain for certain that he had left the capital. While tempted to head straight to Isfahan, Sercey resisted the impulse, both because he had planned to see some of southern Iran on his return journey, and because he felt called upon to at least see the âcelebrated cityâ of Tehran even if he had no intention of remaining long there.174 On the eve of his departure Sercey received a fulsome letter from the Foreign Minister, Mirza MasÊ¿ud,175 who had been exiled to Mashhad and who would consequently not be able to meet Sercey when he arrived in Tehran.
For his part, Sercey wrote warmly and enthusiastically about Boré:
Certainly, if this trend towards the Roman rite develops further, it will be almost exclusively due to our intrepid young compatriot, Mr. Eugène Boré, whose zeal and faith are giving the unbelieving, egotistical century in which we live a resounding rebuff. Indeed, nothing is more interesting than the dedication and courage shown by Mr. Boré since his stay in Persia. Driven by an irresistible religious vocation, I found him established in Tauris, where he had founded, at his own expense, a college where he taught the elements of a basic education free of charge. When I passed through the town, he already had some thirty pupils who spoke French and had some knowledge of arithmetic, geography and so on. Later, he accompanied me to Isfahan, where he founded similar establishments. I make no secret of the fact that I took the greatest interest in this project, and that I did everything in my power to ensure its protection by the Persian government, for I know of nothing more honorable than the mission that young Boré had set himself to propagate civilization through instruction and religion.176
Finally, at 2 p.m. on February 8th, 1840, Sercey and his suite left Tabriz.177 As Boré suspected, by the time Serceyâs suite arrived in Tehran on March 1st178 the Shah, accompanied by a poorly equipped and ill-discplined force of 30,000 men, had long since left the capital.179 Indeed, Mohammad Shah had already arrived at Isfahan by that time.180 From Tehran, on March 8th, 1840, Boré wrote to his friend Eugène noting that he hoped to establish a school âfor the disciples of Ê¿Ali181 and the poor Armenians who have, with difficulty, preserved the shadow of Christianityâ at Isfahan.182 The following day he wrote to the new Minister of Public Instruction, Abel-François Villemain (1790â1870), congratulating him on his recent appointment and providing a translation of the firman from Mohammad Shah, given above, which authorized him to establish a school at Tabriz. âIf the Minister of France looks with favor on this nascent school,â he wrote to Villemain, âit will be a glorious act for our nation, in effectively aiding a people, too weak to lift themselves up by their own efforts.â183 He also expressed his hope of founding a school at Isfahan, a city that had always been a âcenter of enlightenment and education,â and to which he was headed with the French legation. Additionally, he wished to re-establish one of the houses of the Catholic missionaries in New Julfa which, roughly a century earlier, had been its principal ornament.184
A week later, on March 16th, 1840, Boré wrote to Dureau de La Malle, again from Tehran. He thanked him for the efforts he had always made to defend his cause before the Académie. Boréâs statement reflects the unease he felt at having strayed far from his original intentions, in the research plan submitted months earlier, hoping that the foundation of schools in the Shahâs realm and the dissemination of useful knowledge would be seen as equally worthy objects of his time and effort and the Académieâs funds. Having successfully established one school at Tabriz and five others in Persian Chaldaea, Boré now intended to make the planned school in Isfahan one exclusively for Persian pupils, and devoted entirely to science.185 He readily admitted, on the other hand, that all of the young French diplomats who had come to the country were deeply disenchanted with the reality of modern-day Persia which certainly bore no resemblance to the descriptions of it that they had read in the romantic literature. While not pretending to divine the intentions of the French government, Boré nonetheless felt it was absolutely essential to maintain a diplomatic presence for it would be impossible to develop commercial relations between France and Persia without someone actively defending French interests.186 Above all, Catholicism in Iran required the protection of France.187 Boré also reminded Dureau de La Malle that he had not neglected the botanical commission entrusted to him, and reported that dâArchiac had agreed to bring his specimens back to France.188
Baba Khan, governor of Tehran, had been deputed by Mohammad Shah to look after Sercey while the envoy was in the capital. Tehran, Sercey observed, was lacking in commerce, monuments and the prestige of ancient glory. Even the water was bad and the site had only been chosen as Aga Mohammad Shahâs capital because of its proximity to his Qajar homeland.189 Sercey was obliged to await Mohammad Shahâs authorization before he could depart for Isfahan. In early March he received two letters, one from the Shah and the other from his Prime Minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi, which made it clear he was welcome to decamp to Isfahan.
5 French Diplomacy and Mohammad Shah at Isfahan
Finally, on March 23rd, at 1 p.m., Sercey and his suite left the capital.190 Baba Khan accompanied Sercey and his entourage as far as the Qazvin gate in the city wall of Tehran.191 Because the Ottoman ambassador, Sarim Effendi,192 had departed two days earlier on a similar errand,193 and had taken the direct route to Isfahan, it was necessary for the French to follow an alternate one.194 Otherwise, the burden of two such delegations on the villages through which they passed, which were obliged to provide food and lodging, would have been too onerous.195 En route a letter was brought by courier to Sercey from the Shah which induced him to send his First Secretary, the marquis de La Valette, ahead to the Persian royal camp in order to announce the imminent arrival of the French ambassador and to arrange accomodation.196 Boré accompanied La Valette who enthusiastically endorsed all of Boréâs plans and consequently earned high praise from him. Boréâs wrote,
He loves religion, without yet being practically religious, and he unites the cause of orthodoxy with that of progress and civilization. So he supported us with all his zeal and skill, to improve the condition of Catholics in Persia, to have their faith recognized and respected by Muslim authority, and to prepare the means to propagate it successfully one day. In working for France, he also wanted to be useful to the cause of the Church; for these two interests are intertwined, especially in the East: this should never be forgotten.197
The pair left Sercey on March 26th and on April 1st reached the outskirts of Isfahan where, around noon, a courier informed them that Mirza Mohammad Ê¿Ali, Foreign Minister Mirza MasÊ¿udâs secretary, who had been sent to Europe by Ê¿Abbas Mirza and spoke French, was riding out to meet them.198
The following day La Valette and Boré went to wait upon the prime minister, Haji Mirza Aqasi, before being summoned by a palace officer into Mohammad Shahâs presence.199 The Shah received the two Frenchmen cordially, âmanifesting several times the joy occasioned by the arrival of an embassy destined to forge a perpetual alliance between Persia and France.â200 On April 5th, Sercey and the rest of his suite made their solemn entrance into Isfahan201 and three days later, on April 8th, Sercey was received in formal audience by Mohammad Shah.202 On April 10th La Valette delivered the gifts sent by Louis-Philippe I (r. 1830â1848) to the Shah. These consisted of âclocks, several porcelain sets, fabrics, cloths, and several beautifully bound books, as well as other curious objects and luxury weapons.â203 Contrary to the normal practice of monarchs displaying indifference to the gifts brought to them, Mohammad Shah, who painted miniatures himself, was clearly taken by the French painted porcelain and spontaneously removed a ring containing a superb ruby from his finger and gave it to La Valette as a token of esteem.204 Boré also presented the uniform of a French artillery colonel, which his friend Eugène had procured for him, to the âyoung prince,â presumably Naser al-Din Mirza.205 This, too, was a great success.206
In the account of his embassy, Sercey briefly reviewed the history of the French Catholic presence at New Julfa and his own efforts to recover some of their lost property:
The French Capuchins had a church and vineyards there, from which they produced a wine that was famous in the country. But their church was destroyed and these good Fathers, who had had the glory of nationalizing [naturalizing, i.e. introducing] turkeys in Persia, were, in spite of this eminent service, driven out of this ungrateful land. With them disappeared even the memory of this invaluable service. ⦠During my stay, I obtained the restitution of these properties from the king, and had them taken possession of by the Catholic father whom Rome maintains in Djoulfa, and who also owns a church of his rite there.207
The description of this situation by Eugène Flandin, one of the members of Serceyâs legation, was somewhat different, for he noted that, âby a special firman, a monastery that had previously belonged to the French Jesuits, and which had temporarily become the home of an Armenian catholic priest who used it as a storehouse,â had been restored.208 The firman authorizing the restitution of this property reads as follows:
As in the time of the former Kings my predecessors (may God enlighten them in their tombs!), the French Church established at Julfa of Isfahan belonged to the French Catholic Padre and priests, and that the intention of the Kingâs benevolent heart is that all men who come to this Empire, destined to last forever, should enjoy all security and rest, and pray for His prosperity, and that these sentiments of His Majesty are even more vivid with regard to the French nation: for these reasons, at this time when the most noble Comte de Sercey, Ambassador Extraordinary, has arrived at this court with the aim of renewing the relations of an old friendship, we have wished to give him a striking proof of our regard, and we restore the aforementioned church with all its attentions to the French Padre and priests, so that they may go there to their prayers in accordance with the rite of their religion. Consequently, the present and future governors of Isfahan will surrender this church to the Catholic priests and will not allow the Armenian nation to take it over. Isfahan, April 1840.209
While at Isfahan, Sercy and Scafi âpresented to the king a statement in favour of the oppressed Church of Djoulfa; and from the consideration of the case of this particular town, his excellency made a review of the general question,â on the strength of which he was given another firman, dated April 22nd, 1840,210 which Boré hailed as âan act of religious emancipation for all the other Catholics throughout Persia.â211 The text opens with an encomium of Franco-Persian relations in which the Pope is not mentioned. The protections afforded to Catholics resemble those that were granted to Derderian six years earlier. The text of the firman is as follows:212
By the command of God, whose profound wisdom has solidly established the earthâs vast extent, and the height of the firmament; who has organized the world by reconciling the various natures and temperaments of the beings that compose it; who regulates the economy of the globe by uniting its inhabitants, and putting order and harmony amongst nations and kingdoms in order to provide for the happiness of mankind and the prosperity of states: now that the union and unity which formerly subsisted between the two powerful empires of Persia and France have been renewed and consolidated, and that the friendship recently contracted between the glorious majesty of the monarch of the French and us, the august lieutenant of the God of the creation, inheritor of the throne and crown of Persia, has been strengthened through the intermediate and laudable efforts of his ambassador.
We have, in consequence, lent a favourable ear to the request which his excellency the ambassador has addressed to us in favour of his co-religionists, and we have put into execution the regulations which the kings, our predecessors, Shah-Abbas, Shah-Sefi, and Shah-Sultan-Hussein, ordained respecting of the Christian Catholics of Djoulfa, of Ispahan, and the other provinces of our empire, and by the present firman we command:
That all the Catholics shall follow the laws and precepts of their religion with the same freedom of conscience that our Majesty guarantees to the servants of his court; that they shall have the liberty to build churches for their worship, to repair them, to inter their dead, to found scientific colleges for the education of their youth, to contract marriages themselves, to engage in commerce; that they shall possess their property, whether hereditary or newly acquired, in security â conforming, however, their conduct upon all occasions to the authority and laws of the realm.
That every individual who interrupts the free exercise of their worship, or molests them by ill-treatment, shall be liable to exemplary chastisement.
We, therefore, command that the Beglerbeys213 and governors, the chiefs and civil administrators of provinces, the grandees and lords of our well-ordered empire, to whom this edict shall be notified, do conform scrupulously to it, and do use their utmost endeavours to strengthen the bonds of amity between the two powerful kingdoms.
Let entire obedience be shewn to these our commands.
Mohammad Shah
Given at Isfahan, the 20th Sefer,
1256 of the Hegira214
In writing to his friend Eugène about the firman, Boré was at a loss for words to express just how momentous it was. How many states in Europe could do with lessons in tolerance from Persia, he wrote, noting that it was a âsingular spectacle to see one of the Muslim monarchs setting the kings of the West an example of love of religious liberty.â215 In addition, Boré announced to his friend his intention of remaining at New Julfa, mainly due to the sad state of the âArmenian schismatics, so ignorant and so degenerate,â there, but also because of its superior climate, in comparison with Tabriz.
Concurrent with the latest firman Boré wrote, âThe king at the same time granted us the necessary privileges for founding a school.â He therefore determined âto undertake the work without delay, and on the 7th of the following May we opened a school for children.â216 The new school was open to Muslim as well as Armenian Christian children and the study of Persian, because it was the âlanguage of the country,â alongside French and Armenian, was mandatory. On December 31st, seven months after the school had opened, Boré wrote to the members of the Council of the Propagation of the Faith in Lyon. He noted that his pupils âhave made such considerable progress, that they can read and write better than the scholars of the same age, who have attended the primary schools of the country for several years.â217 In addition to works of Classical Persian literature by Saadi and Hafez, the Armenian children were taught the Petit Catechisme historique of Claude Fleury (1640â1723).218 The work was translated âunder our eyes, into the dialect of Djoulfa,â i.e. Armenian, âand in the evening they [the children] recite it to their families.â219 However, Boré continued, language teaching alone would not suffice. Rather, âknowledge and love of religionâ were important essentials, and, âFar from concealing our Catholic tenets, we avowed that they influenced all our actions, and that we considered the imparting of the true faith to our Christian pupils as the main object and reward of our labours.â220 When parents visited the school,
How great was their astonishment to hear the prayers which our pupils addressed to Heaven, not only for the Pope and the bishops, but also for Mohammed-Shah, whom the Mussulmans mention not, no more than the heretics do, in their prayers! We have adopted for the Sovereign Pontiff the honorable appellation, Rim Papa. He has been thus designated in the firmans granted by the Abbas to the former communities of Djoulfa; it is as if we were to say, âThe Pope; may he be exalted!â All the learned men of Ispahan who retain a recollection of the traditions of the past, pronounce those words with respect, and conceive a very high notion of the extensive power of this Mouchetehid [mojtahed] of Christendom.221
When Boré wrote to his friend Eugène on April 29th he believed that Sercey and his suite would leave for France in five days. As this did not happen, however, the Frenchmen were able to celebrate the birthday of Louis-Philippe on May 1st while still at Isfahan.222 In fact, Sercey was unable to leave Isfahan for another month. On the afternoon of June 1st a caravan comprised of fifty men and twice as many horses set out for Baghdad. The intense heat obliged them to travel by night.223 Scafi was to accompany them to Jerusalem and then return to assist Boré should the Lazarists decide to reëstablish themselves at Isfahan.224
Temporally speaking, therefore, Serceyâs mission was a short-lived one. Edmond dâAlton-Shée de Lignières (1810â1874) was scathing when he wrote,
The incompetence of M. de Sercey, his parsimony, regrettable in a country where favor is obtained only through gifts, his impatience to return to France, detract from the embassyâs political success: trade treaties were drafted, groundwork was lain, but nothing was achieved.225
It is clear, moreover, that Sercey was, for the most part, unimpressed with what he saw and experienced during his brief stay in Iran. Describing a dinner given by the recently returned Persian ambassador to France, Hoseyn Khan, he scorned the porcelain and silver on which the meal was served, which he recognized as gifts received by his host from Louis-Philippe while in Paris. Nor did he find anything positive to say about the âdetestable dishes served upâ and the ârevoltingly mediocreâ fireworks display that followed, all of which was accompanied by a musical cacophony that Sercey found âintolerable.â It was his first experience of Persian singing and Sercey declared he would not have thought it possible to create such an appalling sound.226 The landscape lacked charm and Sercey described it as âfar from picturesque, the majority of its mountains lacking any vegetation.â227 Perhaps worst of all, although Sercey probably thought he had done much for the cause of Catholicism in Iran, the rising fortunes of France in the missionary arena were soon to suffer a heavy fall.
Roussel 1897: ix.
Taylor 2018: 190.
For his life see Alazard 1868; Roquette 2007: 135â168.
For his life see Grandmaison-y-Bruno 1855.
Harrison 2014: 72â73. For the early history of the school see Anonymous 1881b.
After he won the first prize in philosophy at the Collège Stanislas, Boré went to the chapel and presented the crown he had been given at the altar. See Lagarde 1881: 175.
Roussel 1897: 1. Boré said of Lamennais, âI grew up under his wing and it was he, through his instruction, who made me understand the grandeur and the sanctity of the Catholic religion.â See Roussel 1897: 7.
Roussel 1897: 13.
Roumain de La Rallaye 1894: 51.
Which Roussel 1909: viii characterized as a âdialogue between paternal and filial love.â
Roussel 1897: 141â144.
Burnouf 1833: 481.
Roussel 1897: 203â204, whom Boré described as being âas good a professor as he was detestable as a man of politics.â
Roussel 1897: 206.
Boré 1834. Also known as Le flambeau des saints or the Buch der Leuchte des Heiligtums.
Letter from Lamennais to Charles Montalembert of July 4th, 1834. See Forgues 1898: 294.
Boré 1835.
Roumain de La Rallaye 1894: 53; Rogeron 1899: 81â83; Félix 1906: 47. An indication of the high level of Boréâs competence in Armenian was given in Silvestre de Sacy 1835, a commentary and discussion of an Armenian title found in the work translated by Boré in 1835 which, in Silvestre de Sacyâs view, had been misunderstood in the dictionaries, and which he demonstrated was a loanword from Persian.
Roumain de La Rallaye 1894: 53.
Roussel 1897: 385â386. In Boré 1837: iiiâiv we learn that Boré left his manuscript with the Superior of the Mekhitarists âas a testimony, however inadequate, of his affection and recognition.â The Mekhitarists printed it, but Boré did not correct the proofs himself and the first edition was full of typographical errors. It was for this reason that the work was reissued in Paris by his brother, Léon Boré.
Patmutʿiwn Hayocʿ. The attribution of this work is disputed. See Garsoïan 2012. When Boré was writing, he would have been aware of the manuscripts of this work in the library of the Mekhitarists on San Lazzaro island, Venice, and probably of the partial Latin translation published as Whiston and Whiston 1736.
Roussel 1897: 407â408. An edition of the Armenian text attributed to Agathangelos was published at Venice in 1749 by Vartabed Matthew. See Malan 1868: iv. In addition, Greek, Arabic and Syriac versions of the text exist. See Thomson 2010.
Géraud 1840: 266.
As Boré 1840/1: 65â66 noted, âDuring our stay in Vienna, the cell of the two young fathers Thomas and Alexander became a school, where we brought our own language in exchange for the Armenian language. The knowledge and skill of our teachers, by displaying before our eyes all the riches of grammar and literature, so richly endowed by Moses of Chorene, Elisha and Nerses the Gracious, happily stimulated our ignorance; and we understood even better what advantage could be drawn from it, either for sacred exegesis, or for the general history of the Church and Christianity in the East.â
Boré 1838. It has been said that the journey was proposed jointly by the Minister of Public Instruction and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (e.g. Félix 1906: 49; Poole 1984: 67), or that Boré sought and obtained the imprimatur of these bodies for a journey in order to ensure his welcome wherever he went (Roumain de La Rallaye 1894: 54; Danjou 2006: 364). Such inferences are contradicted by Boré 1838, the proposal submitted to the Academy in which Boré himself outlined the project which the Ministry, on the recommendation of a committee of scholars, subsequently agreed to fund.
For which see Burckhardt 1822. For an overview of this and other 19th century explorations of the region see Vincent 1993.
The location of the capital founded by Tigranes the Great (r. 95â55 BC) was much disputed. See e.g. Sheil 1838: 77 with some of the earlier literature.
For the folkloric traditions associating Semiramis and Lake Van see e.g. Lalayantz 1896: 344â345.
On arriving in Constantinople Boré referred, in a letter to his brother dated December 6th, 1837, to the financial support he was to receive from âCorâ (Mathurin-Joseph Cor, see below) while awaiting the money that he had requested his brother to send in October, but which had not yet arrived. See Boré 1840/1: 72. On January 3rd, 1838, he wrote again to his brother, informing him that he had still not settled on his itinerary, which would have to depend on the state of his finances when he set out, which he anticipated doing in the spring of 1838. See Boré 1840/1: 105â106.
Boré 1840/1: 23.
Boré had previously received a letter of recommendation to the French consul in Trieste from his teacher, Silvestre de Sacy. See Boré 1840/1: 25.
Boré 1840/1: 23.
Boré 1840/1: 24.
Secretary-interpreter sent by Napoleon to Iran, student of Silvestre de Sacy, professor of Persian at the Collège de France, and many other things, Jaubert had broad experience in Iran and Turkey. For his earlier career see e.g. Jaubert 1821; Quarré de Verneuil 1904.
For his life see e.g. Sadjedi 1983.
For his life see Guigniaut 1877.
For a brief biography see Sternke 2014.
Boré 1838: 143. In a letter of May 12th, 1839, to his sister Louise, Boré wrote, âthanks to the 3000 francs that the Academy has allocated to me, my expenses do not exceed my income.â See Boré 1840/2: 303.
Anonymous 1837b.
Cor studied Turkish with Pierre Amédée Jaubert at the Ãcole spéciale des Langues Orientales vivantes in 1838â1839 and from February 1st, 1840, was Second Dragoman at the French Legation in Constantinople, and First Dragoman from April 10th, 1841. See Dupont-Ferrier 1925: 416. Cf. Pouillon 2008: 237. He was later professor of Turkish at the Collège de France and royal interpreter. See Pinard 1866: 39. For his obituary see Ubicini 1854.
âWhat prevented me from taking the more direct route to Alexandria was the meeting I had in Vienna with M. Cor, my close friend.â See Boré 1840/1: 108.
Boré 1840/1: 109. By the time he left Constantinople on his journey, Boré and Cor had still not managed to achieve their aim. As he wrote on March 30th, 1838, to Dureau de La Malle, âWe have not yet been able to penetrate the library of the Seraglio, but my friend M. Cor has not lost sight of this project, and perhaps he will soon be in a position to realize it.â See Boré 1840/1: 131.
Thus Boré 1840/1: 110 wrote, âFrom what you have told me, Sir, I have some reason to hope for encouragement; however, as in our country everything is unfortunately too often the effect of intrigue or favor, I am still relying solely on my own resources.â
In his letter to his brother, of November 16th, 1837, written at Trieste after he had left Vienna, Boré noted that the French consul there had put him in touch with a âdistinguished personâ there who âequipped me with the instruments I needed to collect plants; and I am determined to continue the study of botany I started in Vienna, so as to be able to make some plant collections on my excursions.â See Boré 1840/1: 26.
Thus Boré 1840/1: 114 noted, âI have made a small number of friends among the best-educated Armenian Catholics Iâve met, and on my visits I always put them to good use, turning their conversation into a real language lesson. The teacher Iâve taken on ⦠is really clever, and Iâm always happy with him. He comes regularly three times a week; and I take care to prepare good exercises for him, not forgetting my writing pages, which are improving noticeably every day.â
Potts 2017. Although often spelled Schultz, the correct name is Schulz.
Boré 1840/1: 124.
Part of Carl Ritterâs Die Erdkunde. The first edition appeared in 1817â1818 and the second in 1822. It is likely that Schulz had volumes from one of these with him when he travelled.
Ker Porter 1821.
Morier 1812; Morier 1818.
Anquetil-Duperron 1771.
A standard source on equitation, first published in 1654, which went through many editions. For the original see Solleysel 1654.
Boré 1840/1: 126â127. This testimony is at odds with other sources, according to which Schulzâs effects were sent by the British Mission in Tabriz to the French Mission in Constantinople and, according to a receipt dated Paris, September 3rd, 1834, sent on to the Royal Library in Paris, from which they were later transferred to the National Library and accessioned there in 1894/5. See Potts 2017: 263â264. That these dates are correct is shown by documents from later that year in which Schulzâs Nachlaà was discussed. One wonders whether, on his return to France, via Constantinople, Boré arranged for Schulzâs effects to be donated to the Royal Library, and shipped there by the French Embassy?
Saint Vincent de Paulâs (1581â1660) Congregation of the Mission and Daughters of Charity were given the approval of Pope Urban VIII in 1633. They came to be known as Lazarists because their mother church in Paris was in the Clos Saint Lazare which served as the missionâs headquarters (1632â1792) until the French Revolution. See Zurawski 1993.
As Boré 1840/1: 72â73 explained to his brother, âIâm having my Armenian clerics, for whom I had letters of recommendation, look for a home with an Armenian family, if possible.â In fact, they succeeded in arranging lodgings for Boré with a Francophile Armenian family (mother, father and six children) in Pera, the furnishing of which he provided a detailed description. See Boré 1840/1: 93â97. Cf. Danjou 2006: 364, âIn this capital of the Ottoman Empire he lodged with an Armenian family. Not far away was the Vincentian residence of Saint-Benoît, where he became one of their frequent guests.â
Frazee 1984: 8.
Anonymous 1839d: 498.
Boré 1840/1: 137, wrote of him, âI will tell you that he is an excellent priest ⦠His character is gentle and considerate; he has a robust constitution, and seems likely to endure any fatigue with ease.â In a letter to his sister Louise, dated May 12th, 1839, Boré wrote, âI had Mr Scafi, that virtuous missionary, with me and I was convinced that his presence, sanctifying the journey, would attract heavenly protection for us.â See Boré 1840/2: 301. Notwithstanding the fact that Scafi considered himself French, âIn 1840 he was complaining about the domineering behavior of the French over the Italians ⦠and it was leading him to consider other missions ⦠his situation would eventually lead him to America in 1845.â See Mezzadri 2009: 632.
Thus Boré 1840/1: 116, describing his change of plans, âI donât see any impediment to carrying out this project; and, what sealed my decision, is the fact that the Lazarists, who are priests as good as they are virtuous and my best friends, want to join to me one of their fathers, who would take advantage of my excursion to explore the country, and see what could be done there for Catholicism ⦠I even recognized in this coincidence the cooperation of heaven, in which I place absolutely and solely all my trust.â
Boré 1840/1: 116 wrote, âthus, instead of finishing with Armenia, I will begin by exploring this country, and I will be that much better prepared for I will have spent the entire winter working on Armenian.â As Poole 1984: 74 noted, âThe Vincentians had been interested in an Armenian mission for some time and were eager to help Boré with his projected journey inland. It was decided that one of the priests, Father Felix Scafi, should accompany him. Father Leleu used his good credit with the government (as perhaps also did the French ambassador) to secure a firman or decree that gave the two men a Turkish guide named Ali who also had authority to requisition supplies and lodgings from villages along the way.â
âThen Iâll know for sure whether or not the government will give me a grant. If Iâm left to my own resources, Iâll tell you who to contact to find me new funds. In any case, I want to carry out my travels.â See Boré 1840/1: 117.
Once on the road, Boré found that his âcapacity as a Frenchman, armed with the commission of a learned society,â favorably impressed all those whom he met. See Boré 1840/1: 175.
Boré 1840/1: 123, 125.
As he told his brother Léon in his letter of March 25th, âI am better able to take my geometry lessons here, for drawing plans, measuring mountains, etc., etc., etc. I have bought a Sextangle [an equilateral triangle], which will enable me to do all these very necessary and delicious operations. I find this study very charming, as it teaches me things I was completely unaware of. My physics teacher is a very distinguished young man, much praised by M. Arago [François Arago (1786â1853), French mathematician and physicist].â See Boré 1840/1: 130.
As Boré 1840/1: 128. For their names see Boré 1840/1: 139.
Thus Boré 1840/1: 174, âhe is a Turk ⦠who has been in the service of a pasha for quite a long time, has great manners and dignity. Always extremely polite to me, he nevertheless knows how to make me feel that he is not a mere servant, and that his service cannot be performed by the first person who comes along. He is indeed deserving of consideration, and I can only praise the exactness and order with which he carries out his task. Always serious and poised, you should see how he makes simple peasants obey him, and even civil servants who correspond to the mayors here. As soon as he arrives in a village, he doesnât ask for lodgings; he orders them by virtue of my firman, and everyone rushes to serve us.â
Boré 1840/1: 136. Boré 1840/1: 176 also noted, âMy Armenian servant, Abraham, is as kind and helpful as Ali is proud and stiff. His athletic strength is a great help in loading my heavy trunks, and in holding them up when they slip sideways. Both are very attached to me, and seem determined to follow me wherever I go.â Whereas Scafi succeeded in converting Abraham to Catholicism, Boré taught him how to make omelettes, rice pudding and French soup. See Boré 1840/2: 156.
Boré 1840/1: 119, âIâll be the doctor, and that way we can get into all the houses.â As for Scafi, âHe will, of course, remain incognito, lest he arouse the suspicions of the schismatics; and he will pass for being attached to my retinue.â
Boré 1840/1: 128â129. As Brant 1840: 425 recounted, however, trouble did arise in at least one case when Scafi sought to visit Echmiadzin. On September 13th, 1838, âAfter sunset, I received a visit from M. Scaffi, an Italian Catholic priest on his way to Persia. He had intended to have visited Ech-miadzin with a French gentleman named Boré, commissioned by the Academy of Sciences at Paris to explore the East. Both were stopped on the Russian frontier. After an application to Tiflis, permission was given to M. Boré to visit Ech-miadzin, but M. Scaffi was not allowed to enter Georgia, and was forced to return from Gúmri to Ḳárs, from whence he had come hither by way of Aʾni and Ḳighizmán: he was going to Báyazid, there to wait for M. Boré.â
Boré 1840/2: 59.
Wilmshurst 2000: 317.
Leleu arrived in Constantinople in 1834, was initially in charge of the College and in 1838 was made Prefect Apostolic. He âcould be justly proud of the work he oversaw: eight churches or chapels built or refurbished, nine new missions, the installation of the printing press with Latin, Greek, and Armenian characters, a public pharmacy, and many other initiatives.â See Rybolt 2014 (unpaginated).
Boré 1840/2: 59. Cf. Potts 2022a: 1833, n. 416. The same accusation was frequently made by e.g. Justin Perkins when writing of Catholic attempts to convert members of the Church of the East (Nestorians).
Boré 1840/2: 67.
Boré 1840/1: 401. Cf. Saint-Paul 1890a: 262, describing conditions in Constantinople in 1847, âIn the East, French means Catholic, and these two titles are inseparable and dependent on each other.â
Boré 1840/2: 76â77.
Boré 1840/2: 107â108, âThe spur that pushes me on is all the more lively and urgent as it is the effect of a new love of religion and truth, and a clearer understanding of the good that there is to be done, whether in the East or in our homeland. ⦠I am firmly resolved to work, for the rest of my days, according to my meagre means, to lay a few stones in the great edifice of social reconstruction that is being prepared. If the years allow me to realize my hopes, perhaps I will be useful to the Catholic Church, our holy mother, outside whose bosom everything degenerates and withers, as I have seen so clearly, travelling through these formerly orthodox lands.â
Boré 1840/2: 108.
As Amanat 1997: 33, noted, Qahraman Mirza was a Russian favorite and had been given the governorship of Azerbaijan in return for supporting the nomination of Mohammad Shahâs son, Naser al-Din Mirza, to be crown prince.
Boré 1840/2: 108â109.
Boré 1840/2: 109â110.
Boré 1840/2: 121. This may be a garbled reference to Louise de la Marnierre (1781â1840), a French woman who was in Tabriz, working for Ê¿Abbas Mirza and later Malek Qasem Mirza. See Calmard 2017.
Boré 1840/2: 111.
âBoré 1840/2: 119.
Probably Scott 1827a or Scott 1827b. As the latter is in French, this is more likely to be the edition in question.
Julius von Mohl (1800â1876), the German but Francophone Orientalist. For his edition of Ferdowsi see Mohl 1838/1842. For Mohlâs life see Müller 1879.
Ãtienne Marc Quatremère (1782â1857), French Orientalist. For his life see Saint-Hilaire 1861: i-xviii. The reference is to Quatremère 1836.
Boré 1840/2: 122.
See especially his âSecond Memoir to the Members of the Central Council of the Propagation of the Faith,â written at Ordushai, near Urmia, on October 29th, 1839, in Boré 1840/2: 339â370, esp. pp. 344â359, and the âFourth Memoirâ pp. 414ff.
Boré 1840/2: 246â292, with specific sections entitled, e.g. âCatholic missionariesâ first means of bringing back schismatics;â âChances of success for a Catholic mission;â âPlan proposed for the conversion of the Christian schismatics of Asia;â âThat the Catholic propaganda must act under the influence and protection of France.â
Boré 1840/2: 290.
Thus Boré 1840/2: 291â292.
Boré 1840/2: 296. The reference to Vernetâs illustrations confirms that the volume chosen was Arnault 1822/1826.
Boré 1840/2: 313.
Boré 1840/2: 311.
Boré 1840/2: 294â295.
Boré 1840/2: 312.
Boré 1840/2: 296.
Boré 1840/2: 305â306.
Boré 1840/2: 362.
Boré 1840/2: 317.
See Ch. 1 and, e.g., Flassan 1809: 332â335; Masson 1896: 111â112.
Boré 1840/2: 323â324.
Boré 1840/2: 381â382.
Boré 1840/2: 327.
Boré 1840/2: 328.
Wilmshurst 2000: 32.
Boré 1840/2: 368 described the diocese as comprising ânothing less than Babylonia and ancient Assyria.â
Boré 1840/2: 314, 328.
Boré 1840/2: 431â432. The misprinted date is also ambiguous in that it is dated â15 de Rébi,â and hence it is unclear whether the month Rabi al-Awwal or Rabi al-Thani is meant. Thus the date could be either May 28th or June 27th, 1839.
Fath Ê¿Ali Shahâs thirty-sixth son. See Anonymous 1873a: 716.
Boré 1840/2: 363. The following day a school was opened at Babari, nearby, and later at Mahvana, in the Kurdish foothills. A month later a school was opened at Khosrova/Salmas.
Boré 1840/2: 363.
LâÅuvre pontificale de la propagation de la foi had been founded at Lyons in 1822. See Guasco 1911: 24â25.
Boré 1840/2: 367.
Boré 1840/2: 330â331, âI sent you ⦠two brief letters, in which I announced my intention to leave with the bishop, now patriarch, in order to visit with him his great diocese, which extends as far as Baghdad. Everything was in readiness for this new journey, when I learned that His Majesty the King of Kings had sent me a new firman for my school, and that he wished me to extend my stay. I found myself in the throes of an internal struggle, pitting my desire to see the rest of Chaldea against the fear that my school would be ruined if I left. In my decision, I have followed the course, prescribed by wisdom, of sacrificing my pleasure and interest to the general good. I shall therefore spend another year in Tauris, to continue the work there, hoping at last, during this interval, to be joined by the missionaries.â
Boré 1840/2: 335.
Boré 1840/2: 368. This happened sometime before the Patriarch Generalâs visit to Ordushai on October 27th.
Boré 1840/2: 337.
Boré 1840/2: 364.
Boré 1840/2: 391.
Fontanier 1846: 74.
Flandin 1851: 497â498.
Couderc 1900: 9.
See Hellot-Bellier 2007: 116.
Sercey 1928: 33.
Couderc 1900: 6. The celebrated author Alexandre Dumas later wrote of a journey made along the Mediterranean coast of north Africa in the same vessel. See Dumas 1849.
For his life see Souloumiac and Chandon 2006. Napoleon III later appointed him ambassador to Pius IX. Louis Thouvenel, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1854â1866), described him as, âa witty conversationalist, widely known throughout the world and in all worlds since the last years of the reign of King Louis-Philippe.â See Thouvenel 1903: 316â317.
Laurent-Arnolphe-Olivier Desmier dâArchiac. For a brief note on his life see Beauchet-Filleau and Beauchet-Filleau 1905: 104. He is principally remembered for having been a participant in the duel that killed Alexander Pushkin in 1837, serving as second to Pushkinâs adversary, Georges Heeckeren, baron dâAnthès, while he was an attaché at the French embassy in St. Petersburg. See e.g. Mirsky 1926: 220â222; Thomson 1975. At that time, Sercey served as First Secretary of the French embassy there. See Anonymous 1837c: 269. Thus he would have known dâArchiac well. Couderc 1900: 6 mistook him for the palaeontologist and geologist, Adolphe dâArchiac but it was definitely Olivier and not Adolphe who participated in the mission. See e.g. Cadalvène and Barrault 1840: 294; Sercey 1928: 20.
His father, the comte de Chazelle-Chusclan, appeared as âpropriétaire, Nîmes,â in a list of the members of the Société Libre dâAgriculture du Gard in 1834. See Anonymous 1834: 6. He was also a member of the Conseil général of the Département du Gard. See Anonymous 1841b: 522.
Son of the distinguished Frensh Marshal and Napoleonic officer Maurice-Ãtienne Gérard (1773â1852). He had been Secretary at the French Legation in Constantinople and died on September 11th, 1841. See Rozel 1899: 268â269. As dâAlton-Shée 1869: 5 noted, âYoung Cyrus Gérard, son of the marshal, whose correspondence during the trip was reminiscent of Victor Jacquemontâs in spirit and naturalness, also returned, but died some time later of a simple military fever, a victim of a doctorâs ignorance.â
An 1830 graduate of the renowned French military academy at Saint-Cyr and later member of the Chambre des Députés. See La Roque 1860: 168. For a full biography see Daru 2018.
A graduate of Saint-Cyr and the Ãcole dâétat-major, he had combat experience in Algeria, and spent time in both Egypt and Syria where he became aide-de-camp to Sulaiman PaÅa, prior to joining Sercey. See Beaufort dâHauptoul 1895: 591.
For his life see Demange 1994. For his collaboration with Coste see Calmard 2012. His date of death appears in authoritative works as both 1876 and 1889.
Distinguished architect attached to the mission, for whose memoir on his time in Iran see Coste 1878. For an obituary see Richard 1879.
A native of Valenciennes who graduated from the faculty of medicine in Paris. For his thesis see Lachèze 1828. Later Lachèze travelled to Egypt. Prus described him as âformer chief physician in Egypt, who was in charge, in this capacity, of a ward at the large hospital in Cairo during the epidemic of 1835, and who later continued his studies on the plague in Persia, where he accompanied, as physician, M. Serceyâs embassy.â See Prus 1846: 8. For his involvement with the plague there in 1835, see also Bulard 1839: 326â329. Remarkable as it may seem, Adolphe Lachèze is not the same person as Ambroise-Adolphe Lachèse, also a physician, for whose works see Anonymous 1925d: 1170â1172. For his obituary see dâEspinay 1884. In addition to his doctoral thesis Lachèze 1844 is a paper on the merits of introducing sesame cultivation in Algeria and on Corsica.
Boréâs first Turkish instructor in Paris. His brother Antoine-Jérome Desgranges was an Arabist. See Dupont-Ferrier 1923: 19. For the brothersâ earlier stay together in Lebanon, in 1815â1816, see Dehérain 1924.
Albert Félix Ignace de Biberstein Kazimirski (1808â1887). Polish Orientalist who moved to France after the failure of the 1830 Polish uprising against Russia. Known both for his translation of the Quran and his Arabic-French dictionary, he was also employed by the French Foreign Ministry as a secretary-interpreter. For a brief obituary see Anonymous 1887c.
Member of a distinguished diplomatic family, and born in Baghdad, he was the son of Georges Outrey who had been appointed French Consul in Trabzon in 1831. See Outrey 1880: 42; Noual 2020: 3. He was only a seventeen year old at the time. François dâOrléans, the Prince of Joinville, who arrived at Trabzon shortly before Sercey, took Outrey along as interpreter on an exhausting ride with a postal courier (tartar) into the countryside between Trabzon and Erzurum. He wrote, âWhen this postal experiment was over, my companions and I found ourselves more exhausted than weâd ever been. The least tired of the bunch was the son of our consul in Trebizond, Maxime Outrey, a charming child, brought up and dressed in the Oriental style, whom we had taken along as a drogman and who, all along the way, struggled with boldness and speed against the tartar, with boisterous gusto.â See dâOrléans 1894: 192â193. He eventually rose to become French Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to both Japan (1868â1873) and the United States (1877â1882).
This is the list as given by Pichon, minus Scafi, who only joined the group in Constantinople. See Couderc 1900: 56. Lambert is not mentioned in Sercey 1928: 20â21, only by Pichon who noted that, when Sercey and his suite left Tabriz for Tehran, âMonsieur Lambert, who was part of the embassy, took the French route instead, carrying some dispatches from Monsieur le Comte.â
Coste 1878: 106â118.
Anonymous 1840a: 24, âThe fact that this envoy was allowed to continue his journey to Persia was due to some special influence, but it was only after long negotiations that he received permission to do so*. Everyone is free to explain this incident in his own way; to us it seems an insult to France,â and n. *, âIt is known from our own correspondence that Count Serceyâs war steamer had to dismount its guns beforehand, in short to disguise itself as a merchant ship.â
Sercey 1854a: 388; Coste 1878: 125; Cadalvène and Barrault 1840: 293â294.
Herrmann 1886: 75.
Anonymous 1840b: 13. Sercey 1854a: 389 described the increasingly dangerous conditions, and the damage done by the strong winds and powerful waves to the Véloce, the steering mechanism of which became damaged, and the imminent peril in which they found themselves when, âAfter a great deal of effort, we rounded the Sinope promontory, and suddenly found ourselves sheltered from the fury of the waves.â By contrast, Coste 1878: 127, simply wrote that bad weather forced the Véloce to stop at Sinop.
Sercey 1854a: 394.
Sercey 1854a: 404.
Sercey 1854a: 511.
Sercey 1854a: 520, 524.
Coste 1878: 146 identified him as Mohammad Shahâs âthird brother.â
Sercey 1854a: 528, âAll along the road from Karaziadeh to Koï, there was a continual exchange of fast couriers and isolated individuals who came to be introduced to me and then placed themselves in the middle of the escort that followed me.â
Sercey 1854a: 527 wrote, âNazer-Ali-Khanâs attentions, all the time he was with me, that is, until Tauris, were charming.â
Sercey 1854a: 530. Scafi performed a mass in his memory on January 17th. See Coste 1878: 147. Bernard died of plague at Zorava, c. 47.5 kms. northwest of Khoy, on November 8th, 1807, and was interred in the Armenian cemetery at Khoy. For his participation as engineer-geographer in Gardaneâs mission and Serceyâs attempt to locate his grave see Potts 2023a: 37â39. According to Pichon, the French military instructors wished to visit Bernardâs grave as well but were put off by the rain. See Couderc 1900: 47.
Sercey 1854a: 531.
Boré 1840/2: 400.
Either Antoine Thomson dâAbbadie (1810â1897) or his brother Arnaud-Michel dâAbbadie (1815â1893). Although born in Ireland to an Irish mother and a Basque father, the dâAbbadie brothers and their parents moved to France when they were young and are considered French-Basque. They were both prolific cartographers, linguists and explorers and made two journeys to Ethiopia (1837â1839, 1839â1849). See e.g. dâAbbadie 1868. Both brothers were known as âzealous Catholics.â See Brown 1928: 657. Boréâs correspondent was, however, almost certainly Antoine. See Massaia 1887: 1â5.
The Mentor was one of the steamers belonging to the French postal administration in the Mediterranean. See Marchebeus 1839: 270.
Couderc 1900: 52. Cf. Boré 1840/2: 405. As Coste 1878: 149 noted, âMessieurs Daru dâArchiac and the chaplain [Scafi] were sent by the ambassador to Tabriz in order to inform the Prince-Governor of our arrival.â
The istiqbal, or welcoming party. Five years earlier, in 1835, when the British envoy Sir Henry Ellis was making the very same journey from Tabriz to Tehran, Sir Francis Hopkins wrote, âLong negotiations as to the rank of the persons who were to come out with the Istiqbal to meet the Ambassador prevented our starting out until three oâclock. The Ilchi [ambassador] having stated his wishes on the subject of an istiqbal in these terms: âEither give me a proper reception or I will enter the capital after the manner of Europe, privately.ââ See James 1971: 150. The practice of istiqbal is very ancient and is attested in the Sasanian period. See e.g. Henning 1952: 519. As described by Coste 1878: 149â150, âBefore we reached a large bridge, many parts of which had been completely destroyed, we saw a small group of horsemen coming towards us: they were the notables of Tauris and several of our compatriots living in the country. Among them was Mr. E. Borée [sic], a former lecturer in Armenian at the Ãcole des Langues Orientales Vivantes in Paris. He has been living in Persia for two years, and has succeeded in establishing a French school there. Next came the French officers whom the government had sent to serve the Shah, following in the footsteps of Hussein-Khan, the former ambassador to Paris. As we proceeded on our way, we met some new deputation. These were the consuls of the various nations, and finally the governor himself, at the head of a large troop of cavalry, all senior officers of the province.â Coste estimated that 500â600 riders surrounded Sercey. Pichon dated the istiqbal to January 22nd, two days earlier than Boréâs account made it. See Couderc 1900: 54â55. The Russo-Persian treaty of etiquette signed by Paskevich at the end of the second Russo-Persian War in 1828 specified, âThe ambassador will be received at each station by the icthbal or deputation, made up of the local chief, notables and a suitable retinue.â See Sercey 1854b: 362.
Boré 1840/2: 407. A quotation from Psalm 118: 24.
Sercey 1854a: 535.
Boré 1840/2: 407.
Coste 1878: 153.
Boré 1840/2: 403. Sercey himself made no mention of this.
Boré 1840/2: 411.
According to Anonymous 1840e: 217, which was published on January 4th, 1840, âThe Shah quitted Tehran on the 22nd of December.â Boré 1840/2: 446 was thus mistaken when he wrote that Mohammad Shah only left Tehran in late January, 1840.
In fact, Boré was meant to ride to Tehran with the military instructors four days after Sercey and his suite left Tabriz. See Couderc 1900: 61. As it turned out. six weeks later the French officers had still not left Tabriz. See Couderc 1900: 66.
Boré 1840/2: 412. Tournier was mentioned, e.g. by Pichon, who wrote, âMonsieur Tournier will always have a place in my memory, for, can anything justify it as much as long shared sufferings like ours since we began our journey together from Constantinople?â See Couderc 1900: 63â64. The following year a M. Tournier, Bachelor of Letters, was provisionally named Master of Studies at the Collège royal de Versailles. See Anonymous 1841a.
French daily, published in Paris, that appeared for the first time on November 3rd, 1833. It was founded and edited by Abbé Jacques-Paul Migne (1800â1875). See https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k689998j?rk=21459;2.
Coste 1878: 155â156.
Sercey 1854b: 366 simply wrote, âMy stay at Tauris was to last far longer than I had intended. News had just arrived that the King was going to Isfahan to punish the rebellious inhabitants who had disregarded his authority since his accession to the throne. I therefore resolved to wait for confirmation of this rumour before setting off again, and to use this time of rest to study a country which could only offer great interest to my curiosity.â Further on, after three weeks, Sercey 1854b: 380, wrote, âTwenty days had passed since my arrival in the capital of Azerbijan, and although it seemed certain that the Châch had left Teheran for Ispahan, I was never able to obtain an admission from the authorities in Tauris, either because they had received orders to delay my departure from that city, because the King did not care to have me as a spectator of the events that were soon to take place in Isfahan, or because of the slowness and carelessness that Orientals put into all their dealings, whatever they may be.â
Boré 1841: 320 wrote, âMahommed-Shah ⦠at the head of his troops, had arrived there, in order to deliver that city from the band of malefactors who had infested it for many years. These miscreants, associated for the purpose of murder and pillage, disciplined like an army, and so daring as to have crowned one of their own body, under the title of Ramazan-Shah, practised their lawless violence principally towards the Christians of Djoulfa, whose wives and children durst not appear in the streets, and the men could not without danger follow their employments. The energy of the king has delivered the country from this scourge.â
Potts 2022a: 1781â1783. In the words of Hasan-e Fasaʾi, Mohammad Shah went to Isfahan âin order to chastise the evildoers of that city.â See Busse 1972: 267 and n. 119.
Sercey 1854b: 380.
In 1829 he had accompanied Khosrow Mirza on his mission of apology to the Tsar for the murder of the Russian diplomat A.S. Giboyedov and most of the legation by a mob in Tehran. Idesbald 1833: 83 suggested he was about 50 years old at the time, making him about 61 in 1840. In addition to speaking French, he read French newspapers, as well as the works of Voltaire, and was considered a sophisticated and sympathetic character. See Potts 2022b: 57.
Sercey 1854b: 367.
For the time see Coste 1878: 159. Pichon, however, wrote that Sercey and his suite left Tabriz on February 12th, noting particularly that Hoseyn Khan, who was being escorted by the military instructors, would depart four days later. See Couderc 1900: 61. As noted above, Pichon wrote that Boré travelled with the officers, not with Sercey. However, he also noted that the officers were so delayed by Hoseyn Khan that they did not leave Tabriz until March 31st, and that several days earlier they had learned of Mohammad Shahâs departure from Tehran for Isfahan, and hence changed their plans, heading straight to Isfahan. On the other hand, Boré sent a letter to Paris on March 9th, 1840, implying that he had in fact travelled with Serceyâs suite, and not with the military instructors. See Couderc 1900: 67.
For his less than auspicious arrival and the wholly unsatisfactory quarters given to him, see Sercey 1854b: 586. Most of the windows, he noted, had no glass in them and none of the rooms had been prepared for their arrival. Not a stick of furniture was to be found in any of them, and the earthen floors forced Sercey and his suite to camp in the building, just as they would have camped outdoors. Coste 1878: 169 also described the missionâs entry, noting that the Turkish and Russian ambassadors had sent all of their attachés out to escort Sercey and his suite into the city.
Boré 1840/2: 425. According to Anonymous 1840e: 217, which was published before Mohammad Shahâs forces had reached full strength, âThe Shah takes with him from 12,000 to 15,000 troops, and 40 guns. The whole of the troops are not yet in camp. The avowed object of this expedition is to restore tranquility in Ispahan, where tumults had lately occurred, and likewise to visit Fars.â
According to Anonymous 1840g: 1064, âLetters from Tehran of 8 March confirm the arrival of the French Mission in the capital. Count Sercey was received with all the honors due to his rank. Over 12,000 people came out to greet him. On 8 March the Shah was at Isfahan, to which Count Sercey intends to go.â
A reference to the majority Shiʾa population.
Boré 1840/2: 429.
Boré 1840/2: 432.
Boré 1840/2: 432.
Boré 1840/2: 434.
On the absence of French goods in Persian bazaars Sercey 1854b: 372â373 wrote, âI regret to say that I have not found in Tauris, nor in the rest of Persia, any traces of earlier French trade with this country. The misery to which the government and the nation had fallen, as a result of internal revolutions and the rivalry of the two European powers that dominated them, made them adopt less sumptuous habits than those they once had. The superb brocades of Lyon, so sought-after in better times, are no longer in demand today by anyone. ⦠The more common products of our manufactures are virtually unknown in Persia. The quality of our cloth is too good, and consequently too expensive, for men who are ruined or who want to pass themselves off as being ruined. Our cotton fabrics could not compete in price with those of England, Germany and Russia.â
Boré 1840/2: 435.
Boré 1840/2: 436.
Sercey 1854b: 593â594.
Sercey 1854b: 599.
Coste 1878: 181.
Anonymous 1840i: 991.
Sarim Effendi undoubtedly followed Mohammad Shah to Isfahan because rumors were circulating to the effect that, after putting down the rebels at Isfahan, the Persians intended to attack Ottoman Iraq. According to Anonymous 1840f, âEnglish newspapers write from Constantinople on April 8: According to news from Tehran on March 5, the Shah has assembled an army of 30,000 men, with 30 pieces of artillery and two mortars, in the region of Ispahan. Rumor had it that many of the forces were not only intended to fight rebellious subjects, but also to attack Turkish territory, for example Basra or Baghdad. However, it is not clear which route they would take. The sea route, on the Persian Gulf, is blocked by the presence of the English on Karrack; the land route, via Schuster and the Karun River, is 400 English miles long and leads through the wasteland of Khuzistan. That something hostile was intended could be inferred from the departure of the Persian ambassador from Constantinople, from the dispatch of an envoy to Alexandria, from the troop movements towards the Turkish border. Sarim Effendi, the Turkish envoy to the Persian court, had arrived in Tehran, but strangely enough the Porte had not yet received any report from him.â
Coste 1878: 171 and 190 also mentioned that the Russian ambassador, Col. Alexander Osipovich Duhamel/Dyugamel (1801â1880), was going to Isfahan and that he lodged in New Julfa. For Duhamel see e.g. Potts 2022a: 1731, 1748â1752, 1754, 1765, 1768.
Sercey 1854c: 478, âThe villages are so poor in this country that the passage of a caravan as large as ours was enough to exhaust all their resources, and, to avoid a complete famine, we were forced to take the same precautions as a troop in enemy country. Leaving Teheran, we followed the road to Hamadan, the ancient Ecbatana, and if this route required a slight detour, we were at least certain to find sufficient sustenance.â Cf. Boré 1840/2: 439, âThe reason for this detour was that the Turkish ambassador, Sarim-Effendi, was taking the other, more direct route, and we couldnât travel together, for fear that the taxes levied on the villages where we stopped would be too onerous for the peasants, who are obliged by law to accommodate ambassadors, state officials, the king, the court and even the army. So the arrival of one of these fearsome guests, far from being a cause for celebration, is a cause for mourning for these unfortunate people, who, unable to bear the increased taxes, emigrate and move inland. This explains the desolation and nakedness of the great public thoroughfares, which, in our wisely administered Europe, are the avenue of prosperity and abundance.â As Boré 1840/2: 428 observed, âThe Oriental liberality of sovereigns is always very costly to their subjects.â Coste 1878: 181, on the other hand, appears to have believed the embassyâs mihmandar who told them that the accommodation on the longer route via Hamadan was better than on the more direct route: âWe were following the road to Hamadan (Ecbatana), which is two days longer than the one running south through Scha-Aboul-Azin; but our mehmandar claimed that the lodgings there were better. The Turkish ambassador, not concerned with the quality of the lodgings, preferred the southern route, arriving three days before us in Isfahan.â For the obligation to provide food and shelter to official parties passing through a town or village, see Potts 2024.
Coste 1878: 183.
Boré 1840/2: 439.
If Boré was correct in identifying this secretary, then it ought to have been Mohammad Ê¿Ali Chakhmaqsaz who was sent to England in 1815 to study by Ê¿Abbas Mirza. See Atai 1992: 28. However, Boré may have had him confused with someone else for Mohammad Ê¿Ali was an artisan who studied gunsmithing in England, and certainly did not go to France or learn French. As Atai 1992: 45 noted, âMuhammad Ê¿Ali Chakhmaqsaz, who was an artisan and had the lowest social background in the group, learned locksmithing and gunsmithing. He took an English bride and thus became the first Iranian student to do so. Upon return he was granted the title of Khan, in part thanks to his wife who was allowed by the king to mix with the ladies of the court. Later he was put in charge of the royal foundry in Tehran.â It is more probable, however, that this was Mirza Mohammad Ê¿Ali Khan, sometime vizir to the Prince Governor of Tehran, whom Joseph Wolff met in 1831. See Wolff 1832: 38. Two years earlier, in 1829, Mirza Mohammad Ê¿Ali Khan was one of the Persian diplomats who entertained the Russian Minister Griboyedov in Tehran prior to the latterâs death at the hands of a mob. See Anonymous 1830. In 1847 Mirza Mohammad Ê¿Ali Khan was sent as ambassador to Paris. See Potts 2022a: 1732, 1818 and n. 361. Guizot 1865: 224â225 was scathing about him and wrote, âThe Persian ambassador, Mirza Mehemmed Ali Khan, was an insignificant courtier, despatched to France by the Shah, his master, more from vanity than any serious design, perhaps to satisfy some intrigue or rivalship of the Court of Teheran. His presence in Paris, and his conversation, served only to confirm the idea I had already conceived of the state of decline and sterile anarchy into which Persia had for a long time fallen.â Afterwards he was appointed Minister to Constantinople. The Italian chargé dâaffaires, Romualdo Tecco, who met him on May 30th, 1848, described him as âa very distinguished personage in diplomatic circles,â and âequally well-known as an author and philologist of the Arabic and Persian languages.â See Gusso 2017: 205, n. 10.
Boré 1840/2: 455.
Boré 1840/2: 456.
Boré 1840/2: 457. The French military instructors and Hoseyn Khan arrived several days later. See Couderc 1900: 81.
Sercey 1854c: 493. In the interim Sercey received visits from the Turkish and Russian ambassadors but did not leave his own quarters. Cf. Coste 1878: 191.
Coste 1878: 193.
As Coste 1878: 193â194.
Born on July 16th, 1831, Naser al-Din Mirza would have been approximately 8 years and 9 months old at the time.
Boré 1840/2: 458.
Sercey 1928: 260. The âCatholic fatherâ was Derderian.
Thus Flandin 1840: 187.
Sercey 1928: 260â261.
20th Sefer, 1256 A.H. See Boré 1840/2: 460.
Boré 1840/2: 461 called it a âFirman of Emancipation.â
Boré 1841: 321â322 is presumably the English rendering of Boréâs French translation which can be found in Boré 1840/2: 459â460.
A loanword from Turkish, begler begÄ« designated the governor-general of a city or province. Describing the beglerbegs of the Ottoman empire, Paul Rycaut, the English consul at Smyrna (1667â1678), noted that they âmay not unaptly be compared to Arch Dukes in some parts of Christendom.â Quoted in Burke 2012: 151.
The translation is Boréâs own. See Boré 1841: 321â322. The date here is misprinted as 29th rather than 20th Sever, as in Boré 1840/2: 460. The text is also given in Coste 1878: 186â197.
Boré 1840/2: 460.
Boré 1841: 322.
Boré 1841: 322.
Boré 1841: 323, referring probably to Fleury 1832. For the importance and widespread influence of Fleuryâs work see Wanner 1975: 83â84.
Boré 1841: 323.
In late 1840 a more temporal reward for Boréâs labors was conferred upon him by Louis-Philippe. In an undated letter to an unnamed friend quoted in Saint-Paul 1890b: 271, Boré wrote, âA few days ago, a muleteer brought me a letter from Teheran with this address: âA M. Eugène Boré, Knight of the Legion of Honorâ. Surprised, I opened it and read that the Journal des Débats, received by the Russian ambassador, had announced my nomination. I certainly didnât expect such a distinction, of which I consider myself very unworthy.â Cf. Anonymous 1840h: 710.
Boré 1841: 324.
Couderc 1900: 81.
Sercey 1855: 87.
Boré 1840/2: 462.
DâAlton-Shée 1869: 3.
Sercey 1854b: 376.
Sercey 1854b: 378.