Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Lawrence, T. E.. EIGHT LETTERS FROM T. E. L.. privately printed, no place, 1939.
Price: US$2007.63 + shipping
Description: Pp. 24; f'cap. 8vo; printed stiff grey paper wrappers with yapped edges, faintly soiled, edges slightly creased, with a couple of tiny chips; fore-edges uncut; hinge tender near centre; privately printed [London], 1939. First edition, limited to 50 copies. O'Brien A219. *The Liddell Hart copy, with his bookplate on the upper pastedown. Later from the libraries of Terence J. D. Linn, and (most recently) David Levine, Sydney, with their book labels on lower pastedown. B. H. Liddell Hart was a staunch admirer, friend (and later biographer) of T. E. Lawrence. The 50 copies were printed for Harley Granville-Barker to give as Christmas presents, after which the type was distributed. O'Brien (and Ridler before him) list this as a product of the Corvinus Press, but Nash & Flavell state 'There is nothing in the type, paper, or design to suggest that this item was printed at Red Lion Court, and I suspect that Ridler added it to the Corvinus canon simply because it was a Lawrence item, published during the lifetime of the Press, in which there was no explicit mention of another printer's name. O'Brien seems to have accepted Ridler's attribution without question' [The Corvinus Press, p. 173]. Hartley Granville-Barker (1877-1946) was an English actor, playwright, director and producer. The earliest letter, from late 1923, begins with a reference to Lawrence reading one of his plays and then asking 'whether you would agree to try and read my book' [Seven Pillars of Wisdom]. The print is awful (very small, and squalid, and dazing in the eyes), the punctuation nil, the style priggish, the sense hysterical. But it is easy to skip, and after all, I don't ask people to read it, only to try'. Four of the other letters also include reference to 'that awful book of mine' and to the subscription process for the book. (Granville-Baker was one of the subscribers). The letters, ranging in date from December 1923 to December 1932, were all written as 'T. E. Shaw'.
Seller: Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Price: US$2475.00 + shipping
Description: LIMITED FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. One of only 50 copies printed after which the type was distributed. Small 4to, in the original gray paper wrappers, the upper cover lettered in black. 24 pp. A very fine copy, as pristine, of this rarely encountered publication. VERY RARE FIRST EDITION, ONLY 50 COPIES WERE PRINTED PRIOR TO THE TYPE BEING DISPERSED. These eight letters from T. E. Lawrence [of Arabia] were printed for Harley Granville-Barker at the Westminster Press. Granville-Barker provides a brief introduction. We are aware of no other copies currently on the market and only five copies have gone through public auction houses in the last 35 years. Of the eight letters included only one had been previously published, having appeared in David Garnett's collection.
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.