The Arab of Mesopotamia, an apparently unrecorded issue of the first edition in an original wraps binding.
Basrah: Printed and published by the Superintendent, Government Press, Basrah, 1917. First edition, wraps issue. Wraps. This potentially singular item – the only of which we are aware – is the wraps (softcover) issue of Gertrude Bell’s The Arab of Mesopotamia, which differs in multiple particulars from its hardcover counterpart. The work was published in Basrah in 1917 to inform British imperial considerations in the Middle East during and after the First World War. The author, Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868-1926) was the intriguing and influential adventurer, scholar, writer, and diplomat who, like her contemporary T. E. “Lawrence of Arabia”, did much to shape the Middle East during and after the First World War.
The hardcover vs. wraps issues
All copies previously known to us were issued in a dark green cloth hardcover binding with the gilt-stamped title on the upper front cover. The hardcover measures 6.5 x 4.25 inches, the contents featuring “Price Re. 1.” On the title page, which specifies “Basrah: Published by the Superintendent, Government Press” and numbering 202 pages, with a “Preface” following the “Contents” page, and with “Printed by E. G. Pearson at the Times Press, Bombay and published by the Superintendent, Government Press, Basrah” at the foot of page 202.
This wraps issue differs in multiple respects. The binding is perfect bound tan wraps measuring 6.375 x 4.25 inches, printed and decorated in black on the spine and front cover, which features a decorative, double-ruled border with corner devices within which is printed the title, “Price As. 8.” and “BASRAH: PRINTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT, GOVERNMENT PRESS”. The title page repeats both the price and the consolidation of printer and publisher, specifying “Printed and Published by the Superintendent, Government Press, Basrah.” The contents appear identical to those of the hardcover issue, with the same map as frontispiece and with all of the same specified text divisions. However, the entire text is set differently, the “Preface” in larger font, the main text in smaller font, resulting in 193 pages rather than 202, and, of course, different pagination for the “Contents” page, which in this wraps issue follows the Preface, rather than preceding it.
We are unable to allocate publication priority to this newly-rediscovered wraps issue vs. the known hardcover issue. Given the limited, topical, and perishable nature of the information in the waning days of the First World War, it seems plausible that both were issued in late 1917. The wraps issue price of 8 annas was half that of the hardcover’s 1 rupee price; at the time of publication, the Indian rupee was the currency in use in Basrah.
Condition
Mere survival of a wraps copy issued in Basrah more than a century past is remarkable. Adding aesthetic appeal to bibliographic importance, condition of this wraps issue is very good. The tan wraps binding is square and tight, both covers firmly attached. While the wraps are toned and moderately soiled with some creasing at the corners, they are substantially complete, with only fractional loss to the corners and spine ends. The wraps are recently fitted with a clear, removable, mylar dust jacket. The contents are complete, including the frontispiece “Mesopotamia” map. Spotting is primarily confined to the first and final leaves and page edges. The initial leaves, through p. 12, and final leaves, spanning pp. 187-193, are slightly dog eared at the corners. The only two markings found are a previous owner name, inked and crossed out, on the upper blank backside of the map and “1917” in pencil on the lower title page.
The edition
A brief, anonymous Preface presents the contents as “… essays on subjects relating to Mesopotamia, written during 1916 by persons with special knowledge… in a convenient and permanent form.” Pages 96-193 (pp. 101-202 in the hardcover issue) titled “Asiatic Turkey” are attributed to Bell’s authorship; a second Preface, this one initialed “G. L. B.” presents contents “written at the request of the War Office during June and July, 1917.” Subsequent scholarship indicates that the entirety of the volume was authored by Bell, including the 10 essays spanning pages 1-95 (pp. 1-100 in the hardcover issue).
“the uncrowned Queen of Arabia”
By her mid-twenties Gertrude Bell developed an intellectual and emotional fascination with the Middle East. “Outstanding literary and linguistic skills” coupled with “determination, bravery, physical strength, and endurance” invigorated contributions to travel literature, translation, archaeology, and architecture, eventually evolving into engagement in the region’s socio-political currents.
By the First World War, Bell became “a voluntary agent of Britain’s interests in the Middle East” and assumed her defining role – as “a woman trying to break one of the most challenging barriers of her time: the physical conquest of the desert and the decoding of the moral and ethical code of its inhabitants.”
The Arab of Mesopotamia speaks to Bell’s influence in shaping the post-WWI structure of the Middle East, particularly the foundation of Iraq. After joining the Cairo Arab Bureau in 1916, Bell was annexed to the military intelligence department in Basrah. Her articles for Hogarth’s Arabian Report and the famous Arab Bulletin ranked among “the best sources of information on the events in the Middle East during the war.” When the Turks lost Baghdad in early 1917, Bell engaged in Mesopotamia’s civil administration. She became oriental secretary under the British high commissioner when an Arab provisional government was established in Baghdad in late 1920, a post she held until her death in 1926.
Bell influenced decisions at the March 1921 Cairo conference of British Middle East officials, and “played a significant role in securing the throne for Feisal ibn Hussein” later that year “and in preparing the electoral law that provided the king and the British high commissioner with the authority to administer the country…”
References: ODNB; Howell, Daughter of the Desert. Item #008947
Price: $2,750.00