A Winter in Arabia.

STARK, Freya.

$1,250.00

Item Number: 118932

London: John Murray, 1940.

First edition of one of the most important pieces of literature on the region and a book that placed Freya Stark in the pantheon of great writers and explorers of the Arab World. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece, illustrated, maps. Signed by Freya Stark on the half-title page. In very good condition. Foreword by Sir Kinahan Cornwallis. Uncommon signed.

In 1934 Freya Stark made her first journey to the Hadhramaut in what is now Yemen—the first woman to do so alone. Even though that journey ended in disappointment, sickness, and a forced rescue, Stark, undeterred, returned to Yemen two years later. Starting in Mukalla and skirting the fringes of the legendary and unexplored Empty Quarter, she spent the winter searching for Shabwa—ancient capital of the Hadhramaut and a holy grail for generations of explorers. From within Stark’s beautifully-crafted and deeply knowledgeable narrative emerges a rare portrait of the customs and cultures of the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. Named one of The London Times' 20 Best Travel Books of the Past Century.