Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia.With a Foreword by T.E. Lawrence and Appendix by Sir Arthur Keith.

Beschreibung

Large 8vo. (23.5 x 16 cm). pp.xxix+396+[1]. Publisher's original tan buckram, spine lettered in gilt, pages uncut. 74 photographic illustrations on plates, 7 illustrations in the text, large folding map to rear. Generally an excellent copy, remarkably clean and sharp. First published in 1932. Bertram Sidney Thomas (1892-1950) was the first European to cross the Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter of Arabia, beating Philby. Thomas was recruited as a political adviser to Arab leaders serving under provisional British rule, a position he held during the 1920 Iraqi Rising. Later, Thomas was transferred to Transjordan as an assistant to the chief British representative at the court of Amir Abdullah. During the 1920s, he developed an ambition to cross the Rub' al Khali and made a preparatory reconnaissance of the region. Late in 1930, Thomas left Muscat on a passing British warship, arriving at Dhufar, on the Indian Ocean coast of Arabia "from where he intended to commence his south-north crossing of the empty quarter. After waiting some months for his guides he eventually set out with a small camel caravan but no promise of protection from the warring and predatory tribes of the interior. He emerged fifty-eight days later at Doha, on the Persian Gulf" (ODNB). Following his successful crossing, Thomas became a close friend of T. E. Lawrence, who helped improve the draft of Arabia Felix. "In this book, Bertram Thomas relates some aspects of his journey in which he crossed the Rub' Al Khali (Empty Quarter) from Oman to Qatar, and provides geographical information about the peninsula of Qatar, especially the southern part. He also recorded his observations of the region stretching from the Gulf of Salwa to Al-Rayyan, where he met Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, Emir of Qatar at the time (1930). The book includes photographs he took of Sheikh Abdullah, Mohamed bin Abdul-Latif bin Mani', and his brother Saleh bin Abdul-Latif bin Mani'. He gives some concise information about Al-Nuaija, Doha towers, and the castle" (Fikri).

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 63070

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Bibliografische Details

Titel

Arabia Felix: Across the Empty Quarter of Arabia.With a Foreword by T.E. Lawrence and Appendix by Sir Arthur Keith.

Verlag

LondonJonathan Cape .

Erscheinungsjahr

1936

Einband

Hardcover

Verkäuferkataloge

• TRAVEL & EXPLORATION
• MIDDLE EAST & ISLAMIC