by Ameen Rihani
First edition, first printing
New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1911. First edition, first printing of what is considered to be the first Arab-American novel. Bound in publisher's original ribbed plum cloth lettered in white and decorated in blind. With title page, chapter heading, and tailpiece vignettes by Rihani's friend and student, Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran. Near Fine with light mottling to cloth mostly visible in raking light, light spottingto top of textblock edge and pages lightly toned. The semi autobiographical work chronicles the adventures of two young men, Khalid and Shakib, who leave Lebanon for the United States to find work as peddlers in Lower Manhattan.