From Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
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AbeBooks Seller since July 26, 1999
About this Item
A scarce Arabic language primer, designed to meet the needs of soldiers and operatives representing Britain's strategic priorities in the region. Three editions were published between 1919 and 1954, and all are now elusive in institutional collections: we have traced just two copies of the first (1919) and one other copy of this third. The author, described here as the Deputy Educational Inspector at Aden, first published Arabic Simplified in 1919 to help British personnel based in Aden and studying for the Colloquial Arabic Field Service Test. The first edition contained almost 1,000 pages of contents, but the increased cost of paper and printing in subsequent decades forced a rethink. For this third edition, the publisher distilled the colloquial Arabic portion of the 1919 text, creating a work of 244 pages. These straightened circumstances are reflected in the cramped appearance of the text block. Hason's choice of sectional divisions, and in-text references to variations between different regional dialects, displays the diverse activities undertaken by British personnel. Chapters cover such scenarios as hunting and shooting ("When wounded the lion charge madly at you"), reconnaissance ("Make him put his hands above his head and walk back to our position"), commerce ("How many bales of coffee has the steamer brought?"), and mealtimes ("Ask the saheb if he would like to have coffee or tea"). As with the first edition, this edition carries the printed endorsement of Lieutenant-Colonel M. C. Lake, the first commander of the Aden Protectorate Levies. First editions are held at Leiden and the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad, while Exeter holds a copy of the third. The second edition (1941) is untraced institutionally. The publisher appears to have used whichever materials came to hand: copies are known in a variety of quarter leather bindings with variant sides and endpapers. As stated on the title page, copies could be obtained from Syed Jadar & Bros of Aden.C Small octavo. Text in English and Arabic. Original dark brown quarter roan, low bands, spine lettered and tooled in gilt, marbled sides, pink tortoise-shell patterned endpapers. Remnant of pencil notation on title, contemporary notes in blue ink on verso. Extremities worn, crude binding cracking at title page and p. iii/iv, title page with small closed tear from the binding pulling, pale damp staining to fore edge, contents browned: a very good copy. Seller Inventory # 170931
Bibliographic Details
Title: Arabic Simplified. Being a Manual of ...
Publisher: Cairo: Imprimerie Misr, 1954
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