Very rare: while Wilfrid Thesiger (1910-2003) often signed books, he hardly ever inscribed them. Written in Thesiger’s final years, in his distinctive but now frail hand to fellow Arabist, and friend for forty-years, John Shipman, he has inscribed the half-title: “John from Wilfrid 7.4.2000” and in his customary manner also signed his name on the title-page.
Among the Mountains describes expeditions in Iraqi Kurdistan (1950-1951), Chitral (1952), Hunza (1953), Hazarajat (1954), Nuristan (1956 and 1965), and Ladakh (1983), and is based upon the author’s diaries and extensively illustrated with his photographs.
John Shipman joined the Overseas Civil Service and his first posting to the Eastern Aden Protectorate in 1962 marked a life of service abroad, which culminated in the position of Counsellor at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi (1984-1987). He had been a member of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs since 1970 and served on the Council (1991-1994) and as the editor of Asian Affairs (1995-1997), before serving as the second editor of The British-Yemeni Society Journal from 1998 to 2012. Shipman first met Thesiger in 1965, when he conveyed a letter from Salim bin Kabina, Salim bin Ghabaisha, and Musallim bin al-Kamam to Thesiger at his flat in London. The friendship between the two men continued until the end of Thesiger’s life, when Thesiger was living at Orford House and Shipman “continued to visit him regularly at Coulsdon” (Maitland).
Maitland, A., Wilfred Thesiger: The Life of the Great Explorer (London, 2006), p. 461.
