Seven Pillars of Wisdom: The Triumph by T.E. Lawrence
Highlights from Peter Harrington's selection of items at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair running until May 5 include:
* Seven Pillars of Wisdom: The Triumph by T.E. Lawrence (1926)
One of the few purposely incomplete copies of the subscribers’ edition, presented by Lawrence to brother-in-arms Lieutenant Samuel H. Brodie. Accompanied by an archive of material related to the world of a serving soldier during the Arab Revolt.
* William Henry Shippard’s copy of Arabia und das Nil-Land by Carsten Niebuhr, L. G. Ehrenberg, Eduard Rüppel (1835)
The first edition of this rare map, one of the earliest to name Abu Dhabi, given here as “Abuthubbi”. It is extensively annotated by William Henry Shippard, a British Army officer, and was used by him presumably while assembling material for his illustrated lecture on The History of the Arabs given in London in April 1844.
* Vom Bosporus zum Sinai (“From Bosphorus to Sinai”) by Hejaz Railway, by Eduard Mygind (1905)
First and sole contemporary edition of this eyewitness account of the opening of the Damascus-Ma’an section of the Hejaz Railway on September 1, 1904 (the railway was officially opened in 1908). It was the first such narrative to be published separately in the West and is scarce, with no copies recorded in Middle East institutional libraries and just 13 worldwide.
* Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah by Richard F. Burton (1855)
First edition, an exceptionally well-preserved copy in the entirely unrestored original cloth, of one of the most extraordinary travel narratives of the 19th century.
* The Camel: its Anatomy, Proportions, and Paces by Elijah Walton (1865)
First and sole edition of this monumental work. Rare, with just nine copies appearing on auction records since 1907.
