Baghdad Sketches

Baghdad, The Times Press Ltd., 1932, hardcover, First Edition, issued without dustjacket, Good condition in original red cloth-covered boards. Laid-in is a bookplate Signed by the Author and dated 1982 in her hand from the collection of autograph enthusiast Derek Birch with his initials in one corner. Also laid-in is a one page (both sides) handwritten signed letter (ALS) dated 12/2/70, where the author discusses the state of her health, the research she is doing on the Mongols for her book Turkey: A Sketch of Turkish History published by Thames and Hudson (1971) in which she provided the text to accompany the photographs of her nephew Fulvio Roiter, and sends her love to Christopher Pirie-Gordon who served as British Charge D'Affaires in Transjordan and later in Yemen on two separate occasions. Boards lightly soiled and spotted, with bumped and fraying corners and spine-ends, spine title label chipped barely affecting text, front label complete, discoloration to endpapers from substandard glue, light signs of erasure to front endpaper. A collection of 20 essays concerning the daily lives of the native residents of Baghdad in the early part of the 20th century. Dame Freya chose to live outside the close-knit western expatriate scene and immersed herself in the way of life of ordinary Iraqis—living in the "native" quarter of the city and spending time with its tribal sheikhs and leaders. Illustrated with twelve plates featuring drawings by E.N.Prescott depicting some of the people and scenes described in the essays.