MESOPOTAMIA

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.?>

The Countess of Clarendon had inherited the Mesopotamia Estate from her previous husband John Foster Barham (1799-1838), who had died a certified lunatic year before her marriage to the Earl. The Estate had been in the hands of the Barham family for more than a century. The four items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. All four with notes by the recipients. ONE: Letter signed by George J. Nicholson of the London soliticitors Vizard & Leman, in secretarial hand, to Messrs Thomson Hankey & Co. Lincolns Inn Fields; 7 July 1845 ('Mesopotamia Estate'). 1p., 4to.

2pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Captain Begg had died at the Siege of Kut Al Amara, Mesopotamia (now Iraq), and Urquhart begins by informing the Rev. Begg that the inventory which he sent of his brother's effects has 'gone astray'. 'In order to save any further delay I am forwarding you a complete list including some things recently recovered from Kirkee Arsenal. Would you kindly point out what you wish returned to you. The remaining items will be sold by auction here.' He continues with 'a summary of what has been done up to date'.

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, punchhole top left, good condition, text clear and complete. "I have sent to first half of my M.S. to a friend to read & he will forward it on to you very shortly. | Should the book be accepted for publication you will let me have a copy of any proposed agreement, before settling terms. | | Yours truly ..." Note on recto of second leaf, "Book sent to F.P. Rennie Esqre, 58 Queens Gate SW7".

Typescript, with manuscript corrections and additions, 230pp., 4to, cloth binding, signs of wear but mainly good. A series of humorous stories set in Mesopotamia during the First World War and based on the writer's experiences in that Theatre Amara, Baghdad, etc. (A letter enclosed in the book reveals that he was still serving in India in 1923.)