Philby, Harry St. John Bridger

ONE OF 100 COPIES, second edition (see footnote), 8vo (243 x 155mm.), half-title, folding lithographed map, original green cloth

Douglas Carruthers FRGS (1882-1962), book label; label of Royal Central Asian Society

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A RARE COPY OF PHILBY'S ACCOUNT OF HIS SECOND GREAT DESERT EXPEDITION, the remarkable journey to the Wadi Duwasir, undertaken following his posting to Riyadh in 1918. ONE OF THE AUTHOR'S EARLIEST PUBLISHED WORKS. FROM THE LIBRARY OF DOUGLAS CARRUTHERS (see footnote to lot 150).

Travelling without official permission, Philby set off to map the Wadi Dawasir, the ancient route that carried the coffee trade of Yemen to inner Arabia, armed with new cartographical equipment that he had acquired in Cairo. ''With the help of his new instruments, he was able to fix some latitudes, and to produce for the Royal Geographical Society the raw material for the first of the maps of uncharted Arabian terrain for which he is justly famous... The Arab Bureau was delighted with 'the great importance, political, ethnographical and cartographical' of his exploit'' (Elizabeth Monroe, Philby of Arabia, p.87).

Philby's report was quickly published by the Government Press in Simla in July 1918, for official use only, and is now rare, with only one copy recorded as sold at auction in over 40 years (the R.M. Burrell copy, sale in these rooms, 14-15 October 1999, lot 617, £12,000). This edition published six months later in Cairo, also for official use only, is also very rare, and the only copy we can trace sold at auction in over 40 years was T.E. Lawrence's copy (sale in these rooms, 17 July 1997, lot 300, £8,000).