The Home Letters of T.E. Lawrence and His Brothers
Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1954. Quarto, navy cloth, gilt lettering on spine, xvi, 732 pp., frontispiece, 18 double-sided sepia plates, one single-sided sepia plate, some black-and-white drawings included, clear plastic dust-jacket. Slight spotting of page edges and endpapers, but overall an attractive copy. First edition. A beautifully presented compilation of personal letters from three of the Lawrence brothers to their family. The section on T.E. Lawrence includes numerous plates presenting his life as an infantry officer, an archaeologist and an antiquarian at large in the Middle East. The letters of T.E., W.G. and F.H. Lawrence (Thomas, William and Frank) were transcribed and edited for this volume by their brother, M. R. Lawrence, who states in an introductory note: "It was the Grace of God which made my brothers what they were, and to me these letters are sacred." Thomas Edward Lawrence's original letters are preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
Also included in this volume is Sir Winston Churchill's Allocution on T.E. Lawrence, first delivered at the 1936 unveiling of the Lawrence Memorial at Oxford. O'Brien, A246. Item #4809
A book plate on the front paste-down endpaper reads: "Alis Nutrior Norman Douglas Simpson"
Price (AUD): $550.00