First edition, limited to 500 numbered copies signed by Philby, this numbered 316. Philby had originally approached John Murray to publish the present work with the intention of establishing himself as an authority on pre-islamic Arabia, but Murray rejected the manuscript having established that much of Philby's source material had been superseded. Philby, undaunted in his self-belief, published at his own expense. Philby had converted to Islam in 1930 and was known among his Arabian associates as Sheikh Abdullah. A moderately fragile and uncommon book, this copy retaining what certainly appears to be the flaps from a tissue jacket.
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