Freya Stark. 
 
E.P. Dutton: 1938. First edition. Hardcover with jacket. Book near fine, slightly bowed. Jacket very good. 
 
"The lights disappeared and the sweets were scattered, every sweet or candle being able to give to its possessor the fulfillment of her wish. 
Before the excitement of this climax had subsided we left our places, climbed to our roof, and came away, for curious glances had already been cast towards us. And as we walked back, closely veiled through the dusty street, I thought, not of this violence of passion, but of the august ritual of our own cathedrals, aethereal and remote; and wondered in what similarity of instinct, what selfsame desire to express the inexpressible in visible shape, this too had had its birth. On the last day of the 'Ashura the Persian children in Kuwait are taken to the Mulla, who passes a knife under their chin in sign of sacrifice or dedication; from mythology to religion, from religion to mysticism, the great truths pass: and it is well now and then to see them in those simple forms that belong to our first awakening in this world, so that we may not forget the brotherhood of men."