# Is "Travels in Arabia Deserta" by Charles M. Doughty a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Travels in Arabia Deserta by Charles M. Doughty (Cambridge University Press, 1888) is identified by: The true first edition was limited to 500 copies, printed in two volumes octavo, bound in original green cloth, uncut, after four commercial publishers declined Doughty's idiosyncratic, archaic-English manuscript before the Syndics of Cambridge University Press agreed to print it.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first edition was limited to 500 copies, printed in two volumes octavo, bound in original green cloth, uncut, after four commercial publishers declined Doughty's idiosyncratic, archaic-English manuscript before the Syndics of Cambridge University Press agreed to print it
- It is illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece, numerous plates (several folding) and in-text wood engravings, plus a color-printed folding map laid into a pocket at the rear of volume I, as issued
- The book sold poorly and remained commercially obscure for decades afterward
- Publisher imprint reads Cambridge University Press
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Charles M. Doughty |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year | 1888 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first edition was limited to 500 copies, printed in two volumes octavo, bound in original green cloth, uncut, after four… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first edition was limited to 500 copies, printed in two volumes octavo, bound in original green cloth, uncut, after four commercial publishers declined Doughty's idiosyncratic, archaic-English manuscript before the Syndics of Cambridge University Press agreed to print it. It is illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece, numerous plates (several folding) and in-text wood engravings, plus a color-printed folding map laid into a pocket at the rear of volume I, as issued. The book sold poorly and remained commercially obscure for decades afterward.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Neither the 1908 abridgment, Wanderings in Arabia (Edward Garnett's two-volume condensation of the text, published by Duckworth & Co. because Duckworth would not undertake the full unabridged work), nor the 1921 Jonathan Cape/Medici Society reissue with a new introduction by T. E. Lawrence, is the 1888 first edition; the 1921 printing reproduces Doughty's complete text in two volumes rather than abridging it, so genuine first editions are identified by the Cambridge University Press imprint, green cloth, and uncut edges rather than by any Lawrence connection.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Travels in Arabia Deserta* by Charles M. Doughty a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/travels-in-arabia-deserta
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.