Sealed and Delivered, A Book on the Abyssinian Campaign (1942)
First edition, owned by British colonial administrator J K Maurice of Gambella (Ethiopia) from 1928–1949.
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First edition. Hardback. 23 × 14.5cm, 256pp, with two fold-out maps to the rear.
This copy has an interesting history. It was owned by J K (Jack) Maurice, with his ownership signature to the front pastedown and two loose photographs of him—one from 1937 and one from 1948, and those ten years left their mark on him! J K Maurice was a long serving British colonial officer who managed the British / Sudanese enclave of Gambella (in western Ethiopia) from 1928 to 1949. He brought some stability and order to the area during a volatile time for the Nilotic tribes. He tenure included a skirmish where he rescued an Ethiopian frontier force attacked by the local Baro Anuak people, and managing diplomatic relations with the Italians who were trying to force the British out of Africa. When the Second World War broke out, he escped by canoe to Malakal in Sudan, before returning in the early 1940s where he remained until his retirement in 1949.
The book acts as a sequel to Steer's earlier work, Caesar in Abyssinia (1936), which had documented the initial Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Sealed and Delivered picks up the thread to cover the joint British, Indian, African, and Ethiopian guerrilla campaign that drove out the Italian forces and restored Emperor Haile Selassie to the throne in May 1941.
Condition
A fair reading copy. The covers have spotted fading and there is a tear to the fabric at the head of the spine. Light foxing to the pages and some little movement to the binding but otherwise remaining in strong readable condition.
As of July 2026, books remain duty-free. The price of the book incurs no extra US import fees.
Price
£40.00
