During the trip, he became acquainted with a number of manuscripts, took them, and handed them over to the National Library of France.
With the photographer Paul Nadar, he explored the regions of Fergana, the Pamirs, Kashgar and the Tian- Shan Mountains and studied geography, flora, fauna, ethnology, archaeology of the region, as well as the possibilities for building a railway. He returned to Turkistan in 1894 – 1895. One of the Persian manuscripts bought by him, the only one with Mawarannahr miniature paintings, is the Supplément persan 2038, a collection of texts in prose, the Story of Farrukhzad and the “Nuh Manzar”. The manuscript is unfortunately incomplete; the date is early the 16 century and the style of paintings close to Shakhrukhiya manuscripts; it was formerly, according to a seal, in the hands of ‘Ali son of Muhammadbek Vali.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Illustrated manuscripts from Mawarannahr in the collections of France" (Volume XXIX) in the series "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan".
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell-Group.
