F I N E B O O K S & M A N U S C R I P T S
Lawrence’s Own Proof Copy
28. The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom A Triumph LAWRENCE, T. E.
Privately Printed for the Author, 1926. The author’s own pre-publication proof copy of The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom. Quarto (trimmed by the binder to 233 x 180 mm from the usual size of 254 x 190 mm). Original black pigskin specially bound for the author, plain white endpapers, black edges. Housed in a custom brown morocco folding case by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Bound, as usual for proof copies, without the 66 plates or maps, but with the woodcut illustrations in the text (some imperfectly printed) found in regular copies. It does contain the very rare Blair Hughes-Stanton woodcut illus- trating the dedicatory poem, printed on heavier stock than the india proof paper used in the other four recorded copies containing it, trimmed and pasted to the front free endpaper verso. A very good copy indeed, extremities lightly rubbed. [42974] £97,500 The author’s own proof copy, which was later given by him to George Bernard Shaw’s wife, Charlotte, containing several annotations, including an ink curl mark at the foot of pages 119, 176, and 536, a large pencil mark on the inner margin of page 525, and the pencilled word “extra” on the inner margin of page 527. This is the copy described by O’Brien: “One copy (23.3 x 18.8 cm) bound in black pigskin, all edges black, with no plates. Thought to be Lawrence’s proof copy.” That this is Lawrence’s own proof has been confirmed by his correspondence with Charlotte Shaw, published after O’Brien’s bibliography. Lawrence had nine proof copies prepared from spoiled sheets, including one sent to himself as “A/C Shaw”. Before Lawrence left for India at the end of 1926, he gave this proof to Charlotte Shaw, but asked her to return it to him. On his recall from Miramshah in 1929, Charlotte asked to borrow it again, wanting a manageable copy to read during a trip to Italy. In a letter of 18 March 1929, Lawrence writes: “Yes, it would be easy to cut down the S.P. into a smaller and handier size... but imagine anyone wanting it ‘handy to read’. Sounds like a bed-side book... There is no vandalism in connection with modern books: and personally, if I could afford it, and wanted it, I wouldn’t hesitate to have a 1st Folio Shakespeare cut up into separate plays for my private reading.” In order to lend it to her, Lawrence retrieved it from Charles Douglas St Leger, a partner at Sir Herbert Baker’s office, where the first draft of Seven Pillars was written. In a letter of 12 April 1929, he reassures Charlotte: “Of course you shall have the cut-down S.P. and any other S.P. you want! You were one of the architects. I hope St. Ledger [sic] will bring it round to you in time.” The relationship between T. E. Lawrence and Charlotte Shaw has been described by Rhoda Na- than as “a species of spiritual love affair, overcoming the 20-year gap in age and the disparity of their upbringing and life patterns”. When Lawrence sent the first draft of his lengthy manuscript to Bernard Shaw asking for editorial advice, Shaw replied he had no time, but Charlotte declared herself to be “mad keen” to read it. She wrote to Lawrence on 31 December 1922 in fervent en- couragement: “Now is it conceivable, imaginable, that a man who could write the Seven Pillars can have any doubts about it? If you don’t know it is a ‘great book’ what is the use of telling you so... It is one of the most amazingly individual documents that has ever been written: there is no ‘style’ because it is above and beyond anything so silly”.
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