Published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1951, 1st edition. Blue cloth boards, gilt lettering to spine under illustrated priceclipped dustwrapper. 8.75ins x 5.75ins, 176pp. A diverse selection including George Borrow, Matthew Arnold, Edward Fitzgerald, Richard Burton and the spledidly named Hippopotamus Murray. "It deals with Shahs, dervishes, British Ambassadors and literary men, and attempts to recapture those not-so-distant days when a Persian prince could still ask a traveller if there were any unicorns left in the world". Free endpapers browned. Small ink book shop stamp to front free endpaper. Dw chipped with loss to top and bottom of spine. VG / G copy of a scarce title.