TITLE: Seven Pillars of Wisdom
AUTHOR: Jeremy and Nicole Wilson
PUBLISHER: Castle Hill Press
PLACE: Salisbury, England
YEAR: 1997
VOLUME: 1
NUMBERED: 210/752
NO.OF PAGES: 924 pages: Vol. 1, 458p pp. xxii, 433
BINDING: Printed on acid-free stock and bound in quarter cream cloth and grey paper-covered boards with green leather spine labels, and green endpapers. Along with dust jacket evocative of the original 1935 British trade edition of the shorter text, top edge painted and housed in a dark red cloth slipcase
SIZE:
Height: 29 cm
Width: 21 cm
Depth: 4 cm
pp. i-xxii preliminaries, including contents list with synopsis, and a Foreword by Jeremy Wilson (pp. xxi-xxii).
pp. 1-433 including T. E. Lawrence's 1922 text of Seven Pillars, Introduction and Books I-V
2 maps at rear
TITLE: Seven Pillars of Wisdom
AUTHOR: Jeremy and Nicole Wilson
PUBLISHER: Castle Hill Press
PLACE: Salisbury, England
YEAR: 1997
VOLUME: 2
NUMBERED: 210/752
NO.OF PAGES: 446 pages (pp. 434-880)
BINDING: Printed on acid-free stock and bound in quarter cream cloth and grey paper-covered boards with green leather spine labels, head and foot bands, and green endpapers. Along with dust jacket evocative of the original 1935 British trade edition of the shorter text, top edge painted and housed in a dark red cloth slipcase.
SIZE:
Height: 29 cm
Width: 21 cm
Depth: 4 cm
Third volume unpaginated; with illustrations featuring 41 full-page Seven Pillars portraits (26 in full colour as in the 1926 Subscriber's edition) as well as 127 war photographs, mainly from the collection Lawrence presented to the Imperial War Museum.
"Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is the story of T E Lawrence's (1888-1935) remarkable odyssey as instigator, organiser, hero, and tragic figure of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, which he began as an eccentric junior intelligence officer and ended as "Lawrence of Arabia." This time defined Lawrence with indelible experience and celebrity, which he spent the rest of his short life struggling to reconcile and reject, to recount and repress. Lawrence famously resisted publication of his masterwork for the general public during his lifetime.
He nearly completed a massive first draft in 1919, only to lose it when his briefcase was mislaid at a train station. This first draft was never recovered. In extreme excitement, Lawrence wrote a new 4,00,000-word draft in 1920. In 1922, a 3,35,000-word version was carefully circulated to select friends and literary critics - the famous "Oxford Text". George Bernard Shaw called it "a masterpiece". Nonetheless, Lawrence was unwilling to see it distributed to the public. In 1926, a further edited 250,000-word "Subscribers' Edition" was produced by Lawrence - but fewer than 200 copies were made, each lavishly and uniquely bound.
It was only in the summer of 1935, in the weeks following Lawrence's death, that the text of the Subscribers' Edition was finally published for circulation to the general public. The fuller 1922 "Oxford Text" - a third longer - would not be published in an edition available to the public until this 1997 edition. .br.
Castle Hill Press took this text from the manuscript in the Bodleian Library and T E Lawrence's annotated copy of the 1922 Oxford Times printing. Castle Hill first published a three-volume limited edition of 752 sets of this Oxford Text. Of these, 650 sets were issued thus. The large volumes measure 11.25 x 9 inches. The two text volumes are printed on acid-free stock and bound in quarter cream cloth and grey paper-covered boards with green leather spine labels, head and foot bands, and green endpapers.
CONDITION:
This lot will be sold in "as is" condition.
There may be some minor tears/creases scratches, or holes commensurate with age that may not be visible in the images.
The books on sale in this auction are rare, out-of-print and otherwise collectable, dating from the 19th century onwards. The technology and material for printing and binding books have evolved over the last few centuries. From being the exclusive preserve of Clergy and Kings to an item of everyday application, the availability and use of books have also evolved over time. Books age over time and deterioration in a book's condition depends on many factors, including the original materials used and conditions of usage over time. Books will often show signs of foxing, fading, shelf-ware or dust jacket damage through usage. Prolonged storage may also cause wormhole damage or water stains.
The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of ageing. Condition requests can be obtained via email. Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Storyltd shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.