ABSTRACT
The travel memoirs demonstrate an interesting lack of an established vocabulary when describing space, as indicated in the writers’ clumsy word choices and circuitous explanations. While Abolhasan makes note of sociopolitical wonders such as women’s involvement in society, the high regard for individual rights, and the sovereignty of the constitution, he reserves a greater attention for architectural marvels, including the height of buildings, carvings on an obelisk, the incredibly large beams of a ship factory, city lights, residential lights, the frescos on a portico, multistory stone constructions in Bath, and the enormous area of St. Paul’s Cathedral, each of which is discussed this chapter. Most Persian travelers tried to entertain their readers with stories about the strangeness and peculiarities of Europe. The art of storytelling also doubtlessly motivated them to exaggerate differences and accentuate oddities. The Europe that they represent in the memoirs is a wonderland: a fairy-tale world full of marvelous scenes, unusual objects, weird gadgets, and strange habits.
