Impressions and notes on Persia, by the British explorer and diplomat Gertrude Bell, based on her extensive journeys to the region in the late 19th century. A fluent Arabic speaker, Bell travelled and lived widely around the greater Middle East in the early 20th century. She wrote numerous works on the region, including Syria, Persia and Iraq, and took part in postwar peace conferences and partition decisions. Along with T.E. Lawrence, she was a prominent voice in favour of Arab nationalism and independence following the end of the Ottoman Empire. Persian Pictures was her first published work, and was followed in later decades by acclaimed writing on Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. First published in 1894, this is a 1947 reprint by Ernest Benn in London. Hardback, in good condition. Rare with the jacket.