[BELL, Gertrude Lowthian]. The Arab of Mesopotamia. Basrah, The Superintendent, Government Press [printed at the Times Press, Bombay], [?1918].
Small 8vo. Original green cloth gilt; pp. [vi], 202, [2, blank]; map frontispiece; light even toning due to paper stock, else very good.
Rare first edition, an unusually sharp and well preserved fragile publication. This book comprises a first part with 10 anonymous essays on Mesopotamia "written, during 1916, by persons with special knowledge of subjects dealt with" (Preface). Subjects include the Arab tribes, the Pax Britannica, the Shiahs, and star worshippers of Mesopotamia.The second part of the work (pp.101-202), entitled Asiatic Turkey, is attributed to Bell, traveller, writer, diplomat, archaeologist and acquaintance of T. E. Lawrence. According to her preface, "These articles were written at the request of the War Office during June and July, 1917. It has been suggested that they might be of some interest to members of the Force serving in Mesopotamia who may not have had opportunity to make acquaintance with the Dominions of the Sultan beyond the battlefields of Gallipoli and the 'Iraq". In spite of the apparent anonymity of the contributors to the first part of the work, in a letter written on September 5, 1918, Bell wrote to her mother: "Why yes of course I wrote all the Arab of Mesopotamia. I've loved the reviews which speak of the practical men who were the anonymous authors etc. It's fun being practical men isn't it." Two versions of the work exist, the present one, and a slightly shorter version (193 pages) printed in Basrah.
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