The nucleus of "Arabian Sands"

Thesiger, Wilfred. Desert Borderlands of Oman. (In: The Geographical Journal. Vol. CXVI Nos. 4-6. December 1950).

London, The Royal Geographical Society, 1950.

8vo. 137-171 pp. [entire volume: x, 137-262, (6) pp., with 28 photographic illustrations, numerous sketch maps in the text, and two maps on a folding plate, plus an additional folding colour map of South-Eastern Arabia, loosely inserted]. Original printed blue wrappers.

 1,800.00

First edition. The famous British explorer's extensive account of his expedition in the interior of Oman; much of the territory crossed now is part of the United Arab Emirates. Thesiger (1910-2003) set out from Abu Dhabi in 1948. The large and detailed colour map shows his journeys from 1945 to 1950.

Thesiger later expanded on the subject to produce his classic travelogue, "Arabian Sands" (1959). Thesiger's highly regarded photographs depict the desert of the Empty Quarter, a settlement at Liwa, sand vegetation after heavy rain, a falconer mounted on a camel, a peregrine falcon with a caught hare, peregrine falcons on the blocks, Sheikh Wahiba of Yahahif and a young Wahiba girl, a thoroughbred Batina camel, the Farai well in Wahib country, portraits of Musallim bin al-Kamam and Salim bin Kabina, and a view of Jabal Kaur from the wadi Saifam. The paper was read in the presence of the Second Secretary at the Saudi Arabian Embassy, H.E. Abdul Rahman Halassie.

Includes, on pp. 211-215, Harry St John Bridger Philby's account of "Motor Tracks and Sabaean Inscriptions in Najd". The article gives an overview of the author's exploration of the geographical heartland of Saudi Arabia, after a tip from King Abdulaziz's brother, Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud (1893-1976), that Sabaean inscriptions had been found there. With an in-text map of the area and its motor routes.

In excellent condition.

References

Not in Macro.