Wayfarers in the Libyan Desert
London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1912. 1st ed. Hardcover. frontis, photos, 122p. Original dark green cloth. 21cm. Former owner's name on half-title. Front cover slightly warped. No Jacket. Oddly-titled account of vaguely dated travel among the pyramids and other ancient ruins in Egypt by Cobbold and Frances Gordon Alexander. Alexander is the author of an identically-titled book (with virtually identical text) published in 1912 in New York. While we assume that the text of the two books was probably jointly authored, it is quite unusual to have such an undiscussed split in named authorship. Cobbold, a Scottish child of privilege, converted to Islam and was the first British woman to make the Pilgrimage to Mecca. She was buried facing Mecca on a high hilltop on the family estate in the Scottish Highlands. Alexander, a member of New York society, married Allen Gouverneur Wellman in 1910 and thereafter appeared occasionally in the society pages. We found nothing online to suggest any further involvement by Alexander in the Arab world. Near Fine. Item #83516
Price: $200.00