ARABIA

Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: TLS from Curtis to Francis. 1p., folio. Signed 'L. Curtis'. A circular letter, with signature, date and name of recipient added. Curtis begins the letter: 'I am writing to ask whether you would care to acquire a replica of a portrait of Lawrence which has now come to be known as "the ghost portrait." Its history is as follows: In 1923 Eric Kennington made a portrait in pastel of Lawrence, who was then a fellow in residence at All Souls.

13pp., 8vo, paginated 41-53. Stapled, in brown printed wraps. On aged and worn paper, with rusted staples. Largely unopened. A learned exposition, with quotations in the original, beginning: 'It is now possible for me to supplement my Arabic text of Ali Baba by printing in full the only other original version so far known. I shall add some further information which I have gathered on the identity of the scribe of the Bodleian MS. and various notes on the text of that version.' No copy in the British Library, and a total of six copies on OCLC WorldCat and COPAC.

13pp., 8vo, paginated 219-231. Stapled, in yellow printed wraps. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with rusted staples. Publishing 'the text and translation of what is one of the most interesting of the little treatises preserved in the Istanbul manuscript, both because of its contents, and also for the reason that it is the only work of Junayd for which we have a second authority'. No copies of this offprint traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight damage to a corner of the second leaf. Pencil note in another hand at foot of last page. Hamilton (1781-1876), Oriental Secretary to the British Embassy at Constantinople, published 'Antar: A Bedoueen Romance' with the London publisher John Murray in 1819. The present letter therefore relates to a pre-publicity copy of the book, which Wrighte has read with 'great pleasure'. Readers are, he considers, 'much obliged to Mr. Terrick Hamilton for presenting it to the Public in such an elegant English dress'.

14pp., folio. Stapled. In brown wraps with attractive cover illustration of a blockage on a mountain pass by 'D. C. '. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight rust to staples and closed tears to back cover and last leaf. Editorial reads: 'Even had the guns been still roaring on all fronts, I do not think that any apology is needed for the predominantly light, and sometimes flippant, tone of this little number. It is not the habit of the man on the spot to take life too seriously - on its literary side at least.?>

All items in good condition. ONE. ALS, 2pp. 8vo. He is responding to receipt of articles about Lawrence of Arabia (present - see below) with memories of encounters with Lawrence.

2pp., foolscap 8vo. On wove paper with the star and crescent watermark of the 'GOUVERNEMENT EGYPTIEN'. Aged and creased, but in fair overall condition. Questions in English and Arabic script, requiring translation between the two languages. Answers in pencil, and marking along both margins in red and blue. Scarce: no copy on COPAC.

4pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums. Good, on lightly-aged paper. To an unknown recipient. The letter begins: 'Dear Sir | I shall be glad to be of any service to an intending fellow traveller in the Holy Land.' In eight numbered paragraphs, discussing: dragomans ('I was fortunate enough to secure a trustworthy native servant at Jaffa, who had all the knowledge & experience of a dragoman, without the insolence & extravagance which is common to the class. His name was Abdullah of Bethlehem. [...] He charged me on an average £1.

2pp, 4to. Very good on lightly-aged paper. Docketed by Luke at head of first page. Having received Luke's letter of 5 October, Wilkinson reports that 'Mrs. [Freya] Stark is at present on a tour of south-western Anatolia, visiting places like Halicarnassus, Cnidus, Loryma, Telmissus, Xanthus and so forth.

On a piece of grey paper roughly 25 x 22 cm, with card backing. The backing is rough-edged, the picture having been removed from its mount, but the edges of the print itself are undamaged. A little grubby, and with minor spotting and staining. Depicts the moustachioed sitter's head in profile, looking to his right, wearing a white guthra with decorative igaal. The image includes a reproduction of Jemmett's signature in the bottom right-hand corner, with the sitter's signature, in Arabic script, reproduced in the bottom left-hand corner.

One page, 12mo. Very good, with light paperclip spotting. 'Certainly. I am glad to comply with your request.'

4to: 2 pp. 26 lines. On lightly discoloured and spotted paper. She will be happy 'to send you word occasionally of any work or other matter concerning myself which might interest your readers'. Her 'new book', 'Enticement', 'has just been published by Leonard Parsons. At present I have not commenced another.' She has just returned from North Africa, 'where I motored over 3,000 miles in Algeria & Tunisia. On the strength of this I do not contemplate writing a "Sheik" story! We met no sheiks.