History of Aziziah Water Supply, Juddah,: & Glimpses on Water Sources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1392-1972.

Jeddah: Administration of Aziziah Water Supply,, [c.1972]. The gift of the late king to the Moslem Nations First edition, first printing, of this uncommon authoritative history celebrating the contribution of Ibn Saud and Faisal bin Abdulaziz to securing Jeddah's water supply. The city's modern infrastructure, developed in three decades after the Second World War, guarantees a steady supply of "potable, gushing, streaming strong, and clamouring water" (p. 71). Before oil, the new Saudi kingdom relied on revenues from the hajj. The improvement of facilities for pilgrims in the Hejaz was of vital importance. To improve water security for the hajj in 1947, Ibn Saud determined to tap new sources at Wadi Fatima. He awarded the contract to Gellatly Hankey, a British shipping and trading firm who nominated Balfour & Son to design and lead the project. The first stage was completed on time, with the rest in place by 1950. Faisal further expanded the supply in the 1960s and 70s, adding an additional input from Wadi Khulays. Copies can be found in just four locations worldwide: Cambridge, Exeter, Harvard, and New York University. Provenance: with the contemporary ownership signature of the Arabist Angelo Pesce (b. 1932) on the front free endpaper verso. Pesce's several works include Jiddah, Portrait of an Arabian City (1974) and The Camel in Saudi Arabia: Marvel of the Desert (1984). He has marked the first frontispiece in pencil with a cross and made occasional pencil marks in the text. Quarto. Original green leatherette, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, front board tooled in blind with imitation panelled calf design, brown printed imitation-marble endpapers. With 4 photographic half-tone frontispieces, 72 similar plates, 2 plans, illustrations in text. Spine lightly rubbed, boards bright, top edge foxed, contents generally clean, fore-edge of p. 411 torn off without loss to text. A very good copy.