Mir'at al Haramain aw al rihlat ul Hijaziyya wa l Hajj wa masha'iruhu ad Diniyya (View of the tow holy sanctuaries, or travels in Hejaz and the Hajj and it's religious ceremonies)

Cairo: Dar ul Kutub al- Misriyya, the National library press, 1925 Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Arabic text in 2 volumes set with 365 fine photographic plates, documents (captioned in English), maps and plans (some foldings). 514, (index), 395 p with 30 P of biography of the author. First original edition in Dar ul Kutub al Misriyya. In very good condition, in contemporary binding. The author was an Egyptian Major-General, who completed the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina four times: in 1901 as commander of the military escort of the Egyptian pilgrims and in 1903, 1904 and 1908 in the high office of Commander of the Pilgrimage (Amir al-Hajj). In this position he not only had the opportunity to assist at all the ceremonies of the holy month but also of acquiring an intimate knowledge of the administrative side of the pilgrimage and of the Arabian and Turkish politics in the Hijaz. At the same time he was able to take a great many photographs and to illustrate his book with numerous photographs and plans. For a simple pilgrim the taking of photographs would have been a very dangerous undertaking especially during the ceremonies of the holy month of Dhul Hijja. Sothebys note, from: Max Meyerhof, Review of the Mir'at al-Haramain by Rif'at Pasha in Isis, vol.9, no.1, Feb., 1927, pp.130-133..