The legend of Fath Ali Shah and the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

There is a legend that Fath Ali, Shah of Iran (1772-1834), having received in 1797 the 18-volume edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, read it from cover to cover and added to his royal title the words "Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopaedia Britannica". It is hard to say whether this anecdote deserves belief, the more so when it concerns Fath Ali Shah, to whom some attribute, for instance, 1,000 wives. Questions abound. In what language, say, did he read the Britannica, and how much time could it have taken him? What is more, the fact turns up in only one source, and the quotation belongs to the British author Colman Barks rather than, for example, deriving from a work on the history of Iran. Nevertheless, the third edition of the Britannica, in 18 volumes, did indeed appear in 1788-1797, and such a rumour merely testifies to the reputation of an encyclopaedia that presented itself as the sum of all the knowledge, thought and achievement of mankind. One way or another, I should like to wish everyone that they read at least one clever book this year, and that reading might be just as prestigious