Arabia
LAWRENCE, T. E. - GRAVES, Robert, & B. H. Liddell Hart. T. E. Lawrence to His Biographer Robert Graves; [and to] His Biographer Liddell Hart.London : 1938
First editions, limited to 1,000 copies signed by Robert Graves and Liddell Hart in their respective volumes, here both numbered 476. These works collect Lawrence's correspondence with two of his biographers and are attractively designed by A. P. Tedesco.
The correspondence spans 1920-35; the corrections take the form of strike-throughs and...Learn More
QALAJI, Mahmoud. Al-Tharwah al-bitrūliya fī al-khalīj al-'arabī.Beirut : 1964
First edition, inscribed by the author in Arabic to the management of the National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia in Beirut, of this well-illustrated work entirely devoted to oil wealth and the oil industry in GCC countries, where oil reserves at the time were "sufficient unto the whole world for 36 years".
An initial historical overview...Learn More
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. al-'Athār fī dawlat al-imārāt al-'arabīa al-mutahida.al-Ain : 1978
First edition, with numerous illustrations, of this study about archaeological excavations in al-Ain, UAE, carried out by a French research expedition in 1976-77.
The fieldwork focused on the area of Jabal Hafeet - a UNESCO world site since 1993, and still a major archaeological site today - where tombs were first discovered in the 1950s....Learn More
ARAMCO. Middle East Oil Development: 4th Edition.[Dhahran] : 1956
The 1956 iteration of this report on the oil trade in the Gulf, first issued as Summary of Middle East Oil Developments in 1947. This edition was published shortly before Suez Crisis and the formation of OPEC, reflecting a time of great change in the industry.
"During the past ten years the Middle East's oil has practically replaced the...Learn More
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. Dawlat al-Imārāt al-'arabīah al-mutahidah. Al-kitāb al-sanawī.[Hazmieh : 1977]
First edition of this well-illustrated pamphlet summarizing the most important achievements of the UAE government in the year 1977. We have traced no institutional copies outside the UAE, where only one appears to be recorded.
The sections address issues ranging from the question of Palestine, Cyprus, and the Comoro Islands to the UAE's...Learn More
YEMEN. Protectorate of South Arabia.[Surrey] : 1964
Later edition, printed in the second year of the protectorate. In addition to showing the states of Kathiri, Mahra, and Qu'aiti, it also highlights the members of the Federation of South Arabia in colour and features three inset maps, which show the entire region, the island of Socotra, and the State of Aden.
The Directorate of Overseas...Learn More
IVES, Edward. A Voyage from England to India, in the Year MDCCLIV.London : 1773
First edition of this important narrative, including descriptions of Basra, Baghdad, Mosul, Aleppo, and Cyprus. His account of Kuwait is notable for its attention to overland merchant caravan traffic, often ignored by writers who focused on the country's ports. Ives was also the first Western author to describe Ctesiphon in detail.
In 1753...Learn More
ARAMCO. "You Discover Saudi Arabia" promotional kit.New York : 1969
A promotional kit issued by Aramco to teachers across the US. This is an early example containing the fifth printing of Getting to know Saudi Arabia (released in the same year as the first), and. The contents explore the history and culture of Saudi Arabia, illustrated with photographs of historical figures, company personnel and oil wells, and...Learn More
RIISGÅRD, Knud. Bahrain: den gamle verdens centrum ("Bahrain: The Centre of the Old World").Copenhagen : 1961
First edition of this detailed work, outlining the findings of seven Danish archaeological expeditions to Bahrain from 1953 and the following six years. Among the important digs discussed are the ancient Dilmun civilization on Bahrain's northern coast, the ocean floor of the Arabian Gulf, and around Abu Dhabi.
The preface is by Peter...Learn More
ARABIAN PENINSULA. 'Iraq Command Report. December, 1932 - December, 1934.London : 1935
First and only edition of this report by the Iraq Command (1922-1941), at the time of Britain's "policing from the air" strategy. It examines key issues including Iraqi independence, the death of King Faisal, and the Assyrian massacre. This is copy 27 of a print-run of 400.
"Iraq was the RAF's biggest challenge in the 1920s [...] First,...Learn More
FAIK BEY. Seyahatname-i Bahr-i MuhitIstanbul : 1285 AH / 1868 CE
First edition of this Ottoman travelogue about the first Turkish voyage to America - a detailed eyewitness account by one of the officers aboard the imperial corvettes Bursa and Izmir. The two ships left Gallipoli in 1865, aiming to reach the Arabian Gulf via the Cape of Good Hope. Near the Cabo Verde Islands, they were accidentally blown of...Learn More
GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS: BELL, Gertrude. The Arab War.London : 1940
First edition, number 45 of 500 copies. Bell, a long-time friend of T. E. Lawrence and David Hogarth, wrote these reports while active in the Middle East from 1916 to 1917. Her despatches cover developments in Turkey, Kuwait, the Hejaz, and Oman, including the early activities of Ibn Saud who "alone of those mentioned in these pages remains with...Learn More
RUTTER, Eldon. The Holy Cities of Arabia.London : 1928
First edition of this account of performing the hajj in the guise of a Syrian pilgrim, of "striking literary quality [and] enhanced by his remarkable talent for conveying a vivid and sympathetic insider's view of Islam's holy cities" (Facey, p. 1).
Inspired by Burckhardt and Burton, Rutter studied Arabic in Egypt after the First World War....Learn More
CHATELAIN, Zacharias. Atlas Historique, ou Nouvelle Introduction a l'Histoire, à la Chronologie & à la Geographie Ancienne & Moderne;Amsterdam : 1714-21
A mixed-edition set, as usual, of this monumental encyclopaedia, including a well-preserved example of the large four-sheet map "Carte très curieuse de la Mer du Sud", which centres the American continent in global networks of trade and exploration stretching from China to Europe and the western coast of Africa.
Volumes of the Atlas...Learn More
BUREAU OF IMAMAT OMAN. Five pamphlets on the Omani question.[Cairo : c.1952-56]
A group of five pamphlets issued by the Bureau of Imamat Oman in the 1950s. We have only traced one other copy of each at the Qatar National Library.
With seats in Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad, the Bureau was established in the 1950s to support the liberation of Oman and a government under Imam Ghalib. The Omani Nationalist Forces of the...Learn More
BELGRAVE, James H. D. Welcome to Bahrain.Stourbridge : 1954
Second edition, first printing, of the first guide solely dedicated to Bahrain, following the first edition of 1953. The author, known as Hamed to local Bahrainis, was the son of Sir Charles Belgrave, the financial advisor to the ruling sheikhs of Bahrain between 1926 and 1957.
For the present work, Charles Belgrave contributed the cover...Learn More
KING, Geoffrey. The Traditional Architecture of Saudi Arabia.London : 1998
First edition, containing over 200 illustrations showing a range of architectural designs and styles. It opens by discussing how climate and building materials have influenced local construction techniques. "Nowhere else in the peninsula except in Saudi Arabia do such a range of building styles appear within one country" (p. 1).Learn More
PROTHERO, George Walter (ed.). Arabia.London : 1920
First edition thus, first impression, reproducing for the public a regional handbook provided by the Foreign Office to British representatives at post-war peace negotiations. The second and third sections describe the political history and current conditions of autonomies such as Jebel Shammar, Nejd, Oman, Aden, and Kuwait; others concern social...Learn More
KUWAIT. Dustur dawlat al-Kuwayt.Kuwait : [1962]
First edition of the Arabic and English text of the constitution of the State of Kuwait, issued by the Government's Press.
Signed on 11 November 1962, it had been finalised by the Constitutional Assembly the previous year, under the auspices of Sheikh Abdullah III Al-Sabah. After Kuwait's declaration of independence as a constitutional...Learn More![Rubyiat [i.e. Rubaiyat] of Abu-Tayb-al-Mutanabi.](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fd3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net%2fmedia%2fcatalog%2fproduct%2fcache%2feddd32ef720e909fecec8d69051e6d0d%2f1%2f4%2f141869.jpg&f=jpg&w=240)
MUTANABBI, Abu al-Tayyib al-; Amin BEDER (trans.) Rubyiat [i.e. Rubaiyat] of Abu-Tayb-al-Mutanabi.St Petersburg, Florida : 1945
First edition in English, presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "Presented to. Lt. Selwa Keamy A.N.N. 756481, 255 General Hospital, A.P.O. 772 c/o Postmaster New York, from Amin Beder, 12-31-45". The recipient served with the US Army Nurse Corps. Scarce: just eight locations on WorldCat, all but one - American University of...Learn More
