Az Dār al-Ṭibāʻah tā ḥujrah: kitābfurūshī dar ʻaṣr-i Qājār

This study traces the emergence of the book trade in Iran from the introduction of the printing press under the Qājārs to the spread of lithography and letterpress printing across the country. Beginning with the earliest typographic presses and printed volumes in Tabrīz, Tihrān, and Iṣfahān, the work follows the growth of lithography and the social and economic circumstances behind its popularity. A central section surveys booksellers and bookshops in Tihrān, Iṣfahān, Shīrāz, and Tabrīz, drawing on shop notices, newspaper advertisements, and colophon inscriptions to reconstruct everyday trade practices — pricing, binding, royalties, and the sale of books both bound and unbound. A further chapter traces the long import history of Persian-language printed books from India, Afghanistan, the Ottoman lands, and Egypt, and from European presses in the Netherlands, Russia, England, Germany, and France.