The Kasidah of Hâjî Abdû El Yezdi

Hutchinson & Co. London: Hutchinson & Co., 1914 Full vellum, titles gilt to upper board and along spine; pp. [x], v-xvi, [vi], 5-110, [vi]; with portrait of the author behind mounted tissue-guard, and facsimile of the original cover and title page from the first edition following; a partially unopened copy, some mild dust and dirt marks to boards and edges; a little splayed, as to be expected, but a very good copy otherwise; some previous ownership markings in pencil to prelims. Provenance: Book-plate of Thomas Evelyn Scott-Giles to front paste down (lightly offset to facing page).  Limited edition, this copy numbered 34 of just 50 copies specially printed on Japanese Vellum. With a forward by Roger Ingpen.  A pseudotranslation, purporting to be from an original Persian text, but in actual fact written by Richard Burton, who claimed to have 'translated' it from a manuscript received by him from his friend Hâjî Abdû of the Yezd province in Persia. A 'Kasidah' is an Arabic language poem, typically of 50-100 lines, and Burton's interpretation is one which explores the limits of man's undeveloped reason, egoism, and self-made religions. It was first published by Bernard Quaritch in 1880 for the use of the author and his circle. An uncommon edition.   . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1914.