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The Arabs. The life-story of a People who have left their deep impress on the world. By Bertram Thomas, O.B.E. (Mil.): Ph.D. (Cantab): D.Litt. (Hon.) Bristol: D.Sc. (hon.) Acadia, Nova Scotia… London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd., 1937. First Edition Pre-Publication Presentation Copy. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR + MANUSCRIPT LETTER BY AUTHOR TO PRESENTEE (see transcriptions below). 372 p, tan cloth boards measure 9.5 x 6.25 , 8vo. Book inscription: To Martin S. Briggs. With many thanks for his delightful sketch on p. 161 and acknowledgements of his knowledge and kindly help which the author has profited by. Bertram Thomas, May 1937 . Manuscript Letter: Kent 21 May 37. Dear Mr. Martin Briggs, Your letter today arrived by the same post as six advance copies of my new book, *to be published on 27 May, and so I prize the opportunity - a plan I had long in aided - of sending you one, which please accept with my thanks for your generous help. You will see by the Index and bibliography that I have made acknowledgements in the appropriate places. ……. With all good wishes to you, and I hope you will find my book readable and interesting. Yours Sincerely, Bertram Thomas . In good condition. Boards normally scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine bumped. Spine tanned from shelf-wear, gilt lettering difficult to read. Tanning around edges of front board. Author s inscription, in ink, found on front end-page (see transcription above). Light off-setting on front end-page. Normal to light toning in margins. Some sparse instances of age-staining. Fold-out map in rear normally toned & soiled at creases. Binding intact. Manuscript lettering normally toned at creases & around edges. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Bertram Sidney Thomas (1892 1950) was an English diplomat and explorer who is the first documented Westerner to cross the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter). He was also a scientist who practiced craniofacial anthropometry. After working for the Civil Service in the General Post Office, he served in Belgium during World War I. He was commissioned in the Somerset Light Infantry in January 1916 and served in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) between 1916 and 1918. He worked as an Assistant Political Officer in this country from 1918 to 1922, and Assistant British Representative in Transjordan (now Jordan), from 1922 to 1924. He was appointed as Finance Minister and Wazir to Taimur bin Feisal, the Sultan of Muscat and Oman (now Oman), a post he held from 1925 to 1932. In this capacity, he undertook a number of expeditions into the desert, and became the first European to cross the Rub' al Khali guided by Bedouin of the Rashid tribe, from 1930 and 1931, a journey he recounted in Arabia Felix (1932), in which he described this desert's animals, inhabitants, and culture. Martin Shaw Briggs (1882 1977) was a British architectural historian and author who specialised in the Baroque period before it became the subject of serious academic enquiry, and became vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Briggs's sketch on page 161 is The Tomb Mosque of Sultan Barquq + a quotation on page 162 from his book Architecture. ADVANCED READER'S COPY SENT BY AUTHOR TO MARTIN BRIGGS! RAREB1937DUXM 06/25 - HK2525.
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