Middle East

Seven Pillars of Wisdom – a triumph – T.E. Lawrence (Of Arabia) – August 1935

Published by Jonathan Cape London 1935 – Seven Pillars of Wisdom a triumph – “The Sword also means Clean-ness + Death”. First trade edition second impression August after the July first.

The Trade Edition preceded by the incomplete “Oxford” edition of 1922 (8 copies only were printed) and the very rare privately printed “Subscribers Edition” of 1927 (170 copies).

Thick quarto, 672 pages, original brown cloth covered binding with gilt titles to spine and device to front. Carries the bookplate of Eric Ambrose on front paste down and his discrete personal label on the end papers. Eric Ambrose was a distinguished British architect and a Fellow of his Professional Body. A very good desirable copy

Frontispiece portrait of a bust of Lawrence, 4 folding maps as called for, 2 facsimiles and a total of 54 illustrations – 46 of which are dramatic portraits of men who appear in the book. Albeit without the rare dust jacket this is the cleanest we have seen of this edition. The boards clean and unmarked and only the slightest bit of foxing limited to the rough cut paper edges.

Lawrence “took pains to bring objects and artists together”. A classic book written by Lawrence after a very successful war leading

the Arabs against the Turks, considered one of the most important books on war especially political and guerrilla warfare.

Churchill called it “One of the greatest books ever written in the English language”

Lawrence of Arabia’s great book. First trade great condition – 1935

We simply have to give you some of Chapter 1 … “The everlasting battle stripped from us care of our own lives or of others’. We had ropes about our necks, on or heads prices which showed that the enemy intended hideous tortures for us if we were caught. Each day some of us passed; and the living knew themselves just sentient puppets on God’s stage: indeed, our taskmaster was merciless, merciless, so long as our bruised feet could stagger forward on the road. The weak envied those tired enough to die; for success looked so remote, and failure a near and certain, if sharp, release from toil. We lived always in the stretch or sag of nerves, either on the crest or in the trough of waves of feeling ..

$260.00

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The Splendour of Israel – Robert Payne

First Edition published by one of our favourites – The Travel Book Club – Charing Cross, London in 1963.

Octavo, 192 pages, maps at front. Some age but still a very good copy.

Well written narrative with good content and impressions and historical continent re Jerusalem, Mount Zion, Tal Aviv, Caesarea, Haifa, Lake Huleh, Hazor, Nazareth, Mount Tabor, The Sea of Galilee, Beersheba, Massada etc.

Israel read it for a better understanding

$25.00

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The Great Pyramid – Ancient Egypt Revisited – John Romer

A fine copy of this all embracing work about the Great Pyramid at Giza [and others] published by Cambridge University Press, 2007, with all its usual quality.

Quarto, 564 pages, numerous images from photographs, useful diagrams, maps etc. As new condition in a like dust jacket. A heavy book [1.9 kg] not really suitable for Overseas postage.

Not far into the book we come across Voyager hero Scottish astronomer, with an Italian name, Piazzi Smyth who first proposed the bewildering connection between the cosmos and the geometry and dimensions of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. From there the book only gets better and a full reading and understanding will take you to Doctorate level on the subject.

Near the end we have some great analysis of the build plan and proper quantity surveying re the build materials [there were a lot of then]. The estimate of the workforce at circa 25,000 in the first year is well supported yet hard to visualise.

Best “How To” book on building very large pyramids!

$50.00

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Voices for Kurdistan – Fire, Snow & Honey – Gina Lennox.

Published by Halstead Press, Sydney in 2001. Thick squat quarto, 677 pages, some illustrations and good endpaper maps. The odd pencil annotation from an educated reader – we have left them as we believe it adds to the book. Very good condition.

The Kurds come from a proud ancient culture and have been exploited and persecuted over and over again. This work, edited by Gin Lennox contains over 600 contributions from Kurds of all ages and backgrounds. It is a unique and inherently comprehensive work that will educate any that wish to understand more about the Kurdish people their land and culture.

Gina Lennox interest and love for the people and region stems from 1980 motorbike trip she made from London to India. Her life more or less devoted to the people of the Middle east since then

Kurdistan laid bare through Gina Lennox

$35.00

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The Travels of Marco Polo – Manuel Komroff

Our favourite edition of the Travels of Marco Polo edited and introduction by Manuel Komroff.

Published by Garden City, New York, a first in this form 1930. Large royal octavo, xxxii, 370 pages including the index. Embossed black cloth covered boards with gilt titles and design to spine. Dust jacket complete but protected in unremovable protection. Top edge stained blue as required. Illustrated by Witold Gordon with 32 full page coloured designs. A little age and a few spots – still a very worthy copy.

The work leans on two earlier translations by British orientalists. First, that of William Marsden (1754-1836) published in 1818 … importantly Komroff identifies a missing part of this work. Secondly, that of Yule (1820-1889) published by Murray in 1871 elements of which Komroff provides important revisions.

After an excellent 32 page introduction the work follows the traditional plan … Prologue … Book I – Account of Regions Visited or Heard of On the Journey from the Lessor Armenia to the Court of the Great Khan at Shangtu; Book II – Account of the Great Kublai Khan, His Capital, Court and Government. Also, of Cities and Provenances Visited on Journeys Westward and Southward; Book III – Japan and Archipelago, Southern India, and the Coasts and Islands of the Indian Sea; Book IV – The Wars Among the Tartar Princes and Some Account of the Northern Countries. Index etc

New York born, Manuel Komroff (1890-1974) was a multi-talented writer and translator. He spent time in Russia during the Russian Revolution. The illustrator, Witold Gordon (1885-1968) was born at Warsaw and after emigrating to New York became a recognised artist. At the time of this book he was commissioned to do the murals at the Radio City Music Hall and in 1939 completed a 6,000 square foot mural for the New York World Fair. The works in this book are considered his finest examples of his modernist aesthetic style.

Marco Polo – The Best Travels – Nicely Illustrated.

$90.00

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A Levantine Log-book – J. A. Hart – First Edition 1906 [Fine Example]

First edition of this interesting travel account published by Longmans Green, New York in 1906.

Gifted by J M Gray on March 13, 1906 in fine writing on paste down … almost exactly one month before the great San Francisco earthquake.

Octavo, 404 pages with 50 plates from photographs. Nice embossed decoration to front covers. Top edge gilt. A fine copy … really super good.

Jerome Alfred Hart (1854-1937) was from California and was a noted traveller and author who also acted as Editor of the San Francisco Argonaut.

Here he travels in the Levante to Turkey, Palestine [of the day] and Egypt as well as fitting in Malta and Naples where he visits Pompeii. A sound narrative with some good detail and well chosen illustrations.

Hart writes about the Levante as it was …

$50.00

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Seven Pillars of Wisdom – a triumph – T.E. Lawrence (Of Arabia) – August 1935

The Splendour of Israel – Robert Payne

The Great Pyramid – Ancient Egypt Revisited – John Romer

Voices for Kurdistan – Fire, Snow & Honey – Gina Lennox.

The Travels of Marco Polo – Manuel Komroff

A Levantine Log-book – J. A. Hart – First Edition 1906 [Fine Example]

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