Arabian Sands
by Thesiger, Wilfred
- Used
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine original cloth, spine gilt, in very good dj, headcap chipped, some minor shelfwear
- Seller
-
New York, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Arabian Sands is Thesiger's first and most important work, recounting his crossing of the Empty Quarter under the aegis of the Middle East Anti-Locust Unit in 1946-7. Although brief reports of the journey were published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in the late 1940s, it was only through the efforts of his friend Graham Watson and the publisher Mark Longman that Thesiger was persuaded to write a book-length account.
For a decade, Thesiger had longed to explore the Empty Quarter and seized the opportunity presented by Owen Bevan Lean to accompany the Anti-Locust unit. Thesiger crossed the empty quarter twice: first in 1946-7, on a 2000 mile journey that began and ended at Salala on the south coast. He set again almost immediately in 1947, departing Manwakh well in Yemen and visited at Liwa Oasis and then to Abu Dhabi town. This included a brief imprisonment in Saudi Arabia. Arabian Sands includes accounts of both these crossings and is illustrated with Thesiger's own dramatic photographs.
Thesiger, who had a revulsion to modern life, immersed himself in the country, made friends with the Arabs and travelled on foot and by camel. He states boldly in the introduction to this work, whatever their results "[future explorers] will never know the spirit of the land nor the greatness of the Arabs."
Arabian Sands was received enthusiastically in the press and Thesiger himself thought it "his finest book" (ODNB). The Daily Telegraph stated: "Following worthily in the tradition of Burton, Lawrence, Philby and Thomas, [Arabian Sands] is, very likely, the book about Arabia to end all books about Arabia." Indeed, St John Philby described Thesiger as "probably the greatest of all explorers" (Maitland, 380) and Sir John Glubb regarded him "the last, and certainly one of the greatest, of the British travellers among the Arabs" (ibid.). Alexander Maitland, Wilfred Thesiger: the Life of the Great Explorer (2006)
Synopsis
"First published in Great Britain by Longmans, Green 1959, first published in the United States of America by E.P. Dutton 1959"--T.p. verso. "Reprinted with a second preface 1991"--T.p. verso. Includes index. "Gift, April 2007"
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- James Cummins Bookseller (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 301660
- Title
- Arabian Sands
- Author
- Thesiger, Wilfred
- Format/Binding
- 46 plates, 8 maps to the text & folding map in pocket. xvi, 326 pp. 1 vols. 8vo
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine original cloth, spine gilt, in very good dj, headcap chipped, some minor shelfwear
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Longmans
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1959
- Keywords
- Middle East
- Bookseller catalogs
- History, Travel & Geography;
Terms of Sale
James Cummins Bookseller
All items, as usual, are guaranteed as described and are returnable within 30 days if not as described. Within the United States, all books are shipped UPS unless otherwise requested (please provide a street address). Overseas orders should specify shipping preference. All postage is extra. New clients are requested to send remittance with your orders. Libraries may apply for deferred billing. All New York and New Jersey residents must add the appropriate sales tax. We accept American Express, Master Card, and Visa. All items are subject to prior sale; prices are subject to change.
About the Seller
James Cummins Bookseller
About James Cummins Bookseller
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Shelfwear
- Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...