Seventeen colour illustrations and eighty one in black and white

Esfahan nesf-e jahan: Isfahan is half the world
Iranian proverb

A classic book about one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Now thoroughly illustrated, ranging from magnificent colour plates of the stunning tilework of Isfahan, to never before reproduced photographs of the city as seen by early twentieth century travellers (including Robert Byron), and rare engravings from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Isfahan, an ancient city across timeless trade routes, became the spectacular capital of Iran’s greatest dynasty, the Safavids. Shah Abbas (1587-1629) transformed it into one of the most astonishingly cultured and magnificent cities in the world. In particular, architecture flourished, reaching an extraordinary synthesis of classical poise in form and brilliantly exuberant surface decoration. This book takes the reader on an enthralling voyage of discovery and history through this city and the exquisite, glittering, dangerous life of its the Safavid shahs and their court. Wilfrid Blunt, art historian, educationalist, calligrapher and gardener, wrote extensively about Central Asia. He was for many years curator of the Watts Museum at Compton, Surrey. His brother was Anthony Blunt.