Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia.

London, Kegan Paul, 1881. 8vo. Original red cloth gilt, gilt pictorial vignette to upper cover, rebacked and recornered with red morocco in the 20th century (original backstrip pasted onto additional blank at rear); pp. viii, 399, 47 pages advertisement at the end; a good copy of a scarce book, ownership inscription, dated Amman, Ramadan, 1944, at head of half-title. First edition. 'A syndicate of three, composed of the Hon. Henry Caplin, Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Sandeman, M.P., and Mr. Hazelwood, a director of the Bank of England, agreed to send Major Upton to Aleppo to Mr. Skene, they to go into the desert and choose and secure the horses. It is reported that the final cost of the undertaking was £20,000 ($100,000) … Both Skene and Upton were fine Arabic scholars, besides being excellent horsemen … The results of Upton's visit were written in two books, Newmarket and Arabia, a sketchy statement of early impressions, and a more serious work, Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia, published after his death' (Borden, The Arab Horse pp. 17-18). The first part is the travelogue of the journey towards the desert, via Iskenderun, Aleppo, Beirut, Beqaa Valley and the Lebanon Mountains. The second part describes Bodouin life and the desert, whilst the final part with 120 pages deals in detail with the Arabian horse, horse breeding and husbandry.