On New Year's Day, 1891, Mrs. Bishop went to Mull for a glimpse at the only spot on earth which she could now call home; but she did little more than alight and leave, returning to Edinburgh on January 3 to spend two days with Professor and Mrs. Blackie. She left for London on the 7th, stopping at Huntingdon on the way. On the 8th she wrote to Mrs. Macdonald:

One object of her journey to London was to arrange with Mr. Murray about her book on Persia, one of the most difficult and certainly one of the most valuable books she ever wrote. Its difficulty was due to her repeated losses of notes, diary-letters, and sketches from robberies at Baghdad, Julfa, and in Turkish Kurdistan. A certain number of the diary-letters reached Miss Clayton safely and were locked away. But besides straining her memory, Mrs. Bishop had to consult books of reference and to secure correction of her statements from many residents in the countries traversed.