d'Huart

Originally published between 1920-70,The History of Civilization was a landmark in early twentieth century publishing. It was published at a formative time within the social sciences, and during a per

Clément Huart (1854–1926) studied Middle Eastern languages and served as a French diplomat for twenty years before becoming Professor of Persian at the Ecole des Langues Orientales in Paris. This two-volume French translation (1918–22), published as part of a larger series on Islamic hagiography, focuses on the medieval founders of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, whose main centre, Konya, Huart had visited twenty years earlier. The fourteenth-century Persian text is preserved in several manuscripts, and Huart's translation follows an early seventeenth-century manuscript from his private collection. Huart regards the text as providing evidence primarily about the intellectual and moral contexts of the origins of the dervishes' mystical movement rather than about strict historical facts, but also points to the relevance of its treatment of dreams, prophecies, apparitions and paranormal phenomena to modern researchers of hypnosis and psychosis. The translation is accompanied by e

Clément Huart (1854–1926) studied Middle Eastern languages and served as a French diplomat for twenty years before becoming Professor of Persian at the Ecole des Langues Orientales in Paris. This two-volume French translation (1918–22), published as part of a larger series on Islamic hagiography, focuses on the medieval founders of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, whose main centre, Konya, Huart had visited twenty years earlier. The fourteenth-century Persian text is preserved in several manuscripts, and Huart's translation follows an early seventeenth-century manuscript from his private collection. Huart regards the text as providing evidence primarily about the intellectual and moral contexts of the origins of the dervishes' mystical movement rather than about strict historical facts, but also points to the relevance of its treatment of dreams, prophecies, apparitions and paranormal phenomena to modern researchers of hypnosis and psychosis. The translation is accompanied by e

Clément Huart (1854–1926) studied Middle Eastern languages and served as a French diplomat for twenty years before becoming Professor of Persian at the Ecole des Langues Orientales in Paris. This two-volume French translation (1918–22), published as part of a larger series on Islamic hagiography, focuses on the medieval founders of the Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes, whose main centre, Konya, Huart had visited twenty years earlier. The fourteenth-century Persian text is preserved in several manuscripts, and Huart's translation follows an early seventeenth-century manuscript from his private collection. Huart regards the text as providing evidence primarily about the intellectual and moral contexts of the origins of the dervishes' mystical movement rather than about strict historical facts, but also points to the relevance of its treatment of dreams, prophecies, apparitions and paranormal phenomena to modern researchers of hypnosis and psychosis. The translation is accompanied by e

Clément Huart (1854–1926) graduated in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Modern Greek and served as a French diplomat in Istanbul (or, as he called it, Constantinople) for twenty years before becoming Professor of Persian at the Ecole des Langues Orientales in Paris. He edited and translated many oriental texts and published widely on Middle-Eastern cultures. This 1897 publication describes a visit to Konya, where Huart hoped to find out more about the capital of the Seljuk Empire than was recorded in Byzantine or Persian sources. Travelling on horseback from Istanbul, Huart noted his impressions of archaeological sites and historic buildings, and recorded details of many inscriptions from the Seljuk period on mosques, mausoleums, caravanserais and fortresses. He also met the whirling dervishes. His fascinating account of his experiences is interwoven with references to medieval battles and Islamic legends, together with advice for future travellers to this rapidly modernising region.