Hassan

First published in 1922, this verse play is set in a legendary Baghdad of caliphs, bazaars, and desert roads. Hassan, a middle-aged confectioner, is drawn from his shop into the court of Haroun al-Rashid after a night of intrigue involving the rebel Rafi. He loves the courtesan Yasmin, who uses him, and later becomes entangled with Pervaneh, whose fate the caliph holds. Soldiers, poets, and shopkeepers fill the scenes between palace and street. The action turns on desire, tyranny, and the choice between safe comfort and a journey that cannot be undone. The play is a romantic tragedy in poetry, not a novel of historical Baghdad.

Bound in black art silk blocked with gilt title on spine. Set in Monotype Centaur with folios and main headings in a second colour. Gold slipcase and endpapers.