Countries of the World, Described by the Leading Travel Writers of the Day (Volumes I-VI, Complete)

[1926]. Complete in six volumes. xxvii, 4348pp across all six volumes. Illustrated with some 4000 photographs of which about 1200 are in full colour and photogravure, and maps. Green page decorations and borders throughout. All six volumes uniformly bound in strong green cloth-covered boards with blind embossed decorations front and spine, gilt titles on spine. Red speckled text block edges. Tall 8vo. Cloth very lightly worn, a little rubbed at edges in places, with minor rounding on corners and spine ends and occasional small, mild mark. Volume IV has a short crack in the cloth at the spine head. A little faint spotting on text block edges. Internally all volumes and neat, clean, bright and tight. A handsome complete set featuring and introductory essay on the Romance of Travel by Joseph Conrad. Countries of the World was a photo-illustrated gazetteer (albeit in many ways distinctly different from most gazetteers not least because of its essay style) of all the countries in the world presented in alphabetical order, first published by the Amalgamated Press in 42 parts between 1924 and 1925. Published also as a two-volume reference work in 1925, this six volume edition was published the following year with corrections, additions and high quality images and illustrations. A revised and shortened version was published later, in 1936, but this edition remains the most complete and impressive.