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46 LONGRIGG, Stephen Hemsley. The Origins and History of the Iraq Petroleum Company known from 1912 to 1929 as the Turkish Petroleum Company. London: [at the offices of] The Iraq Petroleum Company, Limited, 1968 Remarkably elusive study of a key player in regional oil production First and only edition of this internally produced document, a comprehensive history of the company that held a virtual monopoly over Iraqi oil exploration, extraction and production between 1925 and 1961; the extensive appendices reprint historical documents, from the transfer of oil rights in 1889 to the blow-out at the Baba Gurgur oil field in 1927; it is extremely scarce, with no other copy traced institutionally. The Iraqi Petroleum Company was nationalised by the Ba’athist government in 1972 and continues as a paper entity; one of its associated companies, Abu Dhabi Petroleum Company, continued actively holding 40% of the on-shore concession in Abu Dhabi until its expiration in 2014. Longrigg (1893–1979) served in the government of Iraq from 1918 to 1931. As a senior executive of the Iraqi Petroleum Company (IPC), he “negotiated oil contracts with some of the rulers of the Arabian peninsula [and] King Ibn Sa’ud was one of the principal partners of his negotiating skill” ( ODNB ). Promoted brigadier, he spent the Second World War at general headquarters in Cairo and then as the chief administrator of Eritrea, returning to the IPC post-demobilization until his retirement in 1951. For his contribution to Middle Eastern economic history and development, he was awarded both the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1961 and the 1969 Richard Burton Memorial Medal. Square octavo. Original light olive grey printed card wrappers. An excellent copy. £2,250 [158586]
47 MECCA; MEDINA. “Views of the Two Noble Shrines” – an album of photographs of the Hajj, the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, and their environs. Mecca: Printed at the expense of Nawab Ali in Babu’s al-Salam, 1950s notably uncommon memorial of the holy places of islam An attractive selection of sequential views of the hajj. The Mecca- based bookseller Haji Nawab Ali had been distributor of souvenir albums of this type for around half a century. This copy has an appealing “trade” provenance, and is in remarkably bright condition. The album comprises views of the Great Mosque at Mecca with pilgrims circumambulating the Kaaba or prostrate in prayer (4), the cemetery at Mecca (1), the Gates at Safa and Marwa during Sai (2), Khaif Mosque at Mina surrounded by tents (1), views of Arafat including the Mountain of Mercy, mosque, pilgrims and encampments (3), the Mosque at Muzdalifah (1), stoning the pillars representing Satan at Mina (3), the door of the Kaaba opened for prayer inside (1), exterior view of Medina (1), inner views of the Prophet’s Mosque (3), the cemetery at Medina with views of the graves of the Prophet’s family and uncle Hamza (3), and the Quba Mosque, which at that time lay outside Medina (1). The laid-in compliments slip reads, “Presented to Capt. Guido Cosulich, Director General, Messrs. Lloyd Triestino, Trieste. (Italy) With Best Compliments from Mohammed Fazil Abdulla Arab, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)”. Cosulich (1887–1962) was a native of the island of Lussino – Austrian at the time of his birth, later Italian, and now Losinj in Croatia – and rose from cabin boy to captain to head of his family’s shipping line, and chief of Triestino-Lloyd when Cosulich became the majority stockholders. He was director general from 1937 to 1958, much of the post-war period being taken up with rebuilding, following heavy wartime losses. Around this time Abdulla Arab, an importing distributor and commission merchant operating in Dammam and Al Khobar, was also operating as Hedjazi agent for LM Ericsson in Jeddah; it was almost certainly he who made the translations of the captions as a courtesy to a respected contact or prospective client. Landscape octavo (170 × 230 mm). Original red sand-grain cloth comb- bound album, with Arabic lettering in silver as above. 24 silver-gelatin
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