THE STORY OF MY STRUGGLES
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY:
His Life and Adventures.
Imperial 16mo, cloth, 6s. Boys' Edition, crown 8vo, cloth gilt,gilt edges, 5s.
THE STORY OF HUNGARY.
Fully Illustrated. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. (The Story of theNations Series.)
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LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
Professor Vambéry at the Age of 70
(Photo by Strelisky.)
THE STORY OF
MY STRUGGLES
THE MEMOIRS OF
ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY
PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BUDAPEST
VOLUME I
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE · 1904
(All rights reserved.)
Preface
Authors of Autobiographies are much exposed to fall intoself-glorification. If I nevertheless have undertaken to write thefollowing pages, I have done so because of the unexpectedly favourablecriticism which the first two chapters of my book—Life and Adventuresof Arminius Vambéry, Written by Himself—met with in England and inAmerica. In this book I tried to lay before the public an account ofsuch travels and wanderings of mine as were not comprised in my firstbook on Central Asia, and in addition I thought it advisable to give afew outlines of my juvenile adventures and struggles. Strange to say itwas the narrative of the latter which elicited the particular interestof my readers, as I noticed from the many letters I received from themost distant parts of Europe and America.
Well, I said to myself, if such short sketches of my curious career haveevoked this interest on the part of my readers, what will be the[Pg vi]impression if I draw the picture of my whole life and of all thevicissitudes I went through from my childhood to my present old age?This is the main reason of the issue of the present volumes. Keeping inmind the Oriental proverb, "To speak of his own self is the business ofthe Shaitan," I have reluctantly touched upon many topics connected withmy personality, but events are mostly inseparable from actors, andbesides I have found encouragement in recalling the appreciation Britonsand Americans are habitually ready to accord to the career of self-made men.
There are besides other motives which hav