Description: Suffice it to say that T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) called Travels in Arabia Deserta by Charles M. Doughty "the greatest epic of travel in our language." Doughty joined a caravan in Damascus in November of 1876; he went from caravan to caravan, from tribe to tribe, living the life of the Arabs among Arabs, and arrived at Mecca nearly two years later, in August of 1878. He was an architect and a draftsman, and he drew a map of his travels, which he presented to the Royal Geographic Society in 1883, which became of immediate importance to geographers. He was also a writer, who kept a diary of his journey. His travels were extensive, and his memory photographic and lush and downright Elizabethan. A published poet, his poetic style runs through the Arabia Deserta. Illustrating our fine edition, Edy Legrand made sumptuous brush drawings of the terrain that Doughty had covered, of life as it is lived among the Arabs, of their cares and their occupations and their pleasures and their worries, replete with drawings of camels, which were everywhere and used for everything. The illustrations were reproduced in terracotta, by the collotype process by Arthur Jaffe in New York. George Macy planned the book, and it was printed at the Garamond Press in Baltimore, with Cloister Old Style type. Various arabesques and other decorative material were drawn by Jeanyee Wong. For the paper, the Curtis Paper Company selected deeply-toned sheets especially made for our edition. The binding is of a rough linen stamped in dark brown, the boards being arranged in an unusual wallet-flap style which was first practiced in Persia in the seventeenth century and is now frequently used for the binding of fine books in the Arabic world. This is copy number 1122 of 1500 and is not signed due to the untimely death of Mr. Legrand. The offer includes both the essential four page Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter and the pre-publication announcement. The offer should appeal to serious collectors of LEC titles in quality condition with memorabilia, and to those who love travelogues in exotic places, and to students and scholars of the Arabian peninsula. Thank you for reading this presentation, and good luck in your searches. Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Price: 72.5 USD
Location: Wexford, Pennsylvania
End Time: 2025-01-23T21:45:47.000Z
Shipping Cost: 7.75 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Binding: rough linen/boards in wallet-flap style
Place of Publication: Garamond Press, Baltimore
Illustrator: Edy Legrand
Special Attributes: Collector's Edition, Illustrated, Limited Edition, Numbered
Signed: No
Region: Arabian Peninsula
Author: Charles M. Doughty
Publisher: Limited Editions Club
Topic: Travel
Subject: Exploration & Travel
Year Printed: 1953