James Justinian Morier

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James Justinian Morier

James Justinian Morier (* probably 1780 in Smyrna , † March 19, 1849 in Brighton ) was a British diplomat , traveler and writer.

biography

Because of the Huguenot persecution in the 16th century, the Moriers family emigrated from France to French-speaking Switzerland , more precisely to the area around Montreux . His father Isaac Morier (1750-1817), himself born in Smyrna, was later (from 1804) Consul General of the Levant Company in Constantinople . Due to family ties (through his wife Clara van Lennep) he was able to acquire British citizenship and let his four sons attend the elite Harrow School .

James Justinian Morier, Isaac's second son, embarked on a diplomatic career. He was first secretary of the embassy (before 1807) and later (1814-1816) British envoy to the court of the Shah of Persia in Tehran . Before his time as ambassador, he was a legation secretary in two expeditions through Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor to Constantinople in 1808–1809 and 1810–1812 , during which excavations, surveys and scientific research were carried out.

The diary entries of the first trip formed the basis of his first travel description published in London in 1812 . A second work appeared in 1818 and was based on his experiences from the years 1810–1812. Morier made sketches, drawings and maps himself. Because of their richness, his reports remained the most important sources on Persia for decades.

In the winter of 1816 he left the Orient forever; his last stop was Constantinople, which he reached in December 1816, coming from Persia. Because of his services as a diplomat, he received a pension , from which he lived from 1817. Only a stay as a special envoy in Mexico from 1824 to 1826 interrupted his further career as a writer. At this point, however, he had already published his most successful literary work.

The most important work of Morier, the novel The Adventures of Haji Baba from Isfahan , appeared in 1824. A continuation of the episodes and other novels did not have the same great success of Haji Baba .

The oriental novels and stories were well received in Germany. The fairy tale The Baked Head was added in 1827 by Wilhelm Hauff to his collection of fairy tales The Sheik of Alessandria and his slaves . In 1831 Morier visited Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in Weimar . His novel Ayesha, the Maid of Kars was published in German in 1836. Its hero Lord Osmond and his servant Mustafa, according to Siegfried Augustin (1999) Karl May, served as models for Kara Ben Nemsi and Hajji Halef Omar .

Morier lived in Brighton in his later years , where he died in March 1849. From the marriage to Harriet, the daughter of Capt. William Fulke Greville (1751–1837) had a son who, however, died while his father was still alive.

Works

English language editions

  • 1812: A Journey through Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Years 1808 and 1809; in which is Included, Some Account of the Proceedings of his Majesty's Mission, under Sir Harford Jones, Bart. KC to the Court of the King of Persia . London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ( Biodiversity Heritage Library = archive )
  • 1818: A Second Journey through Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, between the Years 1810 and 1816. With a Journal of the Voyage by the Brazils and Bombay to the Persian Gulf. Together with an Account of the Proceedings of his Majesty's Embassy under his Excellency Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart. KLS London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown ( Biodiversity Heritage Library = archive )
  • 1824: The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan . 3 volumes. London: John Murray ( text from Wikisource / English ) (archive: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
    • The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan. Second edition . 3 volumes. London: John Murray 1824 (archives: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
    • First American edition: The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan . 2 volumes. Philadelphia: Abraham Small (archive: Volume I - Volume II )
    • Second American edition: The Adventures of Hajji Baba, in Turkey, Persia and Russia . Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. 1855 ( archive )
  • 1828: The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, in England . 2 parts. London: John Murray (archive: Volume I - Volume II)
    • The Adventures of Hajji Baba, of Ispahan, in England. Revised, Corrected, and Illustrated with Notes, and an Appendix, by the Author . London: Richard Bentley 1835 ( archive ) (new edition 1856: archive )
  • 1832: Zohrab the Hostage . 3 volumes. London: Richard Bentley (archive: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
    • Zohrab the hostage. Third edition. Revised and Corrected, with Illustrative Notes, Now First Added . 3 volumes: London: Richard Bentley 1833 (archive: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
  • 1834: Ayesha, the Maid of Kars . 3 volumes. London: Richard Bentley (archive: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
  • 1837: Abel Allnutt. A novel . 3 volumes. London: Richard Bentley (archive: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
    • American edition: Abel Allnutt. A novel . 2 volumes. Philadelphia: EL Carey & A. Hart (archive: Volume I - Volume II )
  • 1840: The Adventures of Tom Spicer, who Advertised for a Wife . London: Ibotson and Palmer ( Google )
  • 1841: The Mirza . 3 volumes. London: Richard Bentley (archive: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
  • 1847: Misselmah, a Persian Tale. Printed for Sale, in Aid of the Funds of the Irish Charities . Brighton: W. Saunders ( Google )
  • 1849 (anonymous): Martin Toutrond: A Frenchman in London in 1831. Translated from an Unpublished French Ms. London: Richard Bentley ( archive ) [written in French by Morier and translated into English]

German editions

  • Jacob Morier's, secretary of the English envoy Sir Hartford Jones to the Persian court, journey through Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor to Constantinople in the years 1808 and 1809. Excerpted from the English . Weimar: Landes-Industrie-Comptoir ( Google )
  • Jacob Morier's second journey through Persia, Armenia and Asia Minor to Constantinople, in the years 1810 to 1816 . From the English . Weimar: Landes-Industrie-Comptoir 1820 ( Google )
  • Hajji Baba's adventures from Ispahan. Translated from English by Friedrich Schott. Along with explanatory notes . 3 parts. Vienna: Chr. Fr. Schade 1825 (Google: Volume II - Volume III )
  • The colorful adventures of Hajji Baba from Ispahan. With a foreword and explanatory notes by Wilhelm Adolph Lindau . 3 parts. Leipzig: Pure 1827
  • Incidents of Hajji Baba from Ispahan in England. From the English . 2 parts. Stuttgart - Tübingen: JG Cotta 1829 (Google: Part I - Part II )
  • The Mirza. Translated from the English by Otto von Czarnowski . 3 parts. Berlin: Wilhelm Hermes (Google: Volume I - Volume II - Volume III )
  • Travels through Persia between 1808 and 1816. German by W. Barthel, Rütten & Loening, Berlin 1985 [based on the two travel reports from 1812 and 1818]

literature

  • Henry McKenzie Johnston: Ottoman and Persian Odysseys: James Morier, Creator of Hajji Baba of Ispahan, and His Brothers. London - New York: British Academic Press 1998.
  • Daniel O'Quinn: "Tears in Tehran / Laughter in London: James Morier, Mirza Abul Hassan Khan, and the Geopolitics of Emotion". In: Eighteenth-Century Fiction 25 (2012), pp. 85–114 ( pdf )
  • Heinrich Pleticha, Siegfried Augustin: Lexicon of adventure and travel literature from Africa to Winnetou. Edition Erdmann in K. Thienemanns Verlag, Stuttgart, Vienna, Bern 1999, ISBN 3 522 60002 9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Isaac Morier's correspondence has been evaluated in various modern studies, most recently in Despina Vlami: Trading with the Ottomans. The Levant Company in the Middle East . IB Tauris, London 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Morier, James Justinian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peregrine Persic (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British diplomat, traveler and writer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH Smyrna , Turkey
DATE OF DEATH March 1849
Place of death Brighton , England