Bidspirit auction | (ISRAEL / PALESTINE). Correspondence Between

(ISRAEL / PALESTINE). Correspondence Between Sir Henry McMahon and the Sharif Hussein of Mecca. (Cmd. 5957). pp. 18. Folding color printed map. * And: Report of a Committee Set up to Consider Certain Correspondence between Sir Henry McMahon and the Sharif of Mecca. (Cmd. 5974). pp. 51. Together two printed documents. Unbound. 8vo. London, HMSO, 1939.   FIRST PUBLICATION OF THIS FAMOUS CORRESPONDENCE.  During WWI, Britain managed to commit to three mutually contradictory policies:  a) the Sykes-Picot Treaty, whereby Britain renounced its claim to Syria in deference to France;  b) the Balfour Declaration of support for a Jewish National Home in Palestine;  c) pledged support for Arab self-determination and self-government via the McMahon-Hussein correspondence.  The second-named work is the report of the Maugham committee, set up during the London (or St. James's Palace) Conference of 1939, to determine the nature of this correspondence, and gives the British and Arab positions on the promises of independence made to the Arabs during WWI, and of their relevance to Arab rights in Palestine.