Across the Sahara.
London: Arthur H. Stockwell, ND [1937]. First Edition. Hardcover. Small octavo. 132pp. Original blue textured cloth, with gilt titling to spine and upper board, blind borders on upper board. B&w photo frontisportrait of the author, b&w photo illustrations, map. The book tells the extraordinary story of Framroze Jamshed Davar, a sports journalist from Bombay, who set off to ride his bicycle around the world in January 1924, beginning a seven year odyssey that would see him cycle nearly 70,000 miles through some 52 countries. Nine months into his adventure he reached Vienna, where he met a fellow cyclist named Gustav Sztavjanik who accompanied him on the rest of his remarkable journey. Davar wrote three books based on his journey, recounting their many adventures, and the people and cultures they experienced with an anthropologist's eye for detail. The books were: "Cycling Over Roof Of The World," "Across The Sahara" and "The Amazon in Reality and Romance." Needless to say "Across The Sahara" details their gruelling trip across the Sahara, encounters with the Tuareg, etc. etc. It is well illustrated with black and white photos, and is an almost forgotten classic of adventure / cycling literature. Cloth rubbed and a bit darkened, edges and extremities lightly bumped and rubbed, pages toned with a bit of uneven browning, scattered pin-head sized bookworm holes in boards and lower margins of most leaves (common in books that have spent part of their life in South Asia) but not affecting text in any way. Text otherwise clean and unmarked. Overall a solid and unmarked copy of this very scarce work. (No dust jacket). Item #65585
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