T.E. Lawrence
The first edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom produced for general circulation, preserved in its scarce original 30 shilling dust jacket.
LAWRENCE, T. E. Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph.
Jonathan Cape, London, 1935.
First trade edition, first impression, Quarto. Original brown buckram, gilt titles to spine, crossed scimitars and Lawrence's motto in gilt to upper board, brown top edge, fore and lower edges untrimmed. 672 pages. Illustrated with 48 plates, four folding maps and further illustrations throughout.
Lawrence's account of the Arab Revolt of 1916-18 combines autobiography, military history, travel and political observation, tracing his role as British liaison officer with the Arab forces fighting the Ottoman Empire. The complete text had previously appeared only in Lawrence's celebrated privately printed editions, making this 1935 issue the first opportunity for a general readership to encounter the work in full. Published just weeks after his fatal motorcycle accident, it became the edition through which Seven Pillars of Wisdom entered literary and historical culture.
Published on 30 July 1935, shortly after Lawrence's death. The first impression is identified by the illustration-list error placing 'A Forced Landing' at pages 302-303 rather than its actual position at 304-305.
The survival of the original typographic dust jacket is particularly desirable. This example retains the printed 30s net price on the front flap. The brown buckram binding remains handsome, with the gilt device and lettering well preserved, and the text and illustrations present cleanly throughout. Jacket condition and other age-related details are shown in the photographs.
