Editorial note — INDEX

Chardin was a French dealer in precious stones who supplied the Shah with European jewels. The materials for the account of Persia from which the extract given in the text is taken, were collected during a voyage in that country in the years 1671 and 1672. Chardin, who was of an old Protestant family, settled later on in England and was knighted by Charles II. I quote from the English translation of 1724, checking it by the contemporary French edition.