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Lawrence, T.E.. Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Fordingbridge Castle Hill Press 1997, 1997.
Price: US$4133.14 + shipping
Description: LIMITED EDITION. 'No. 84' of 80 sets (of 752), numbered 21-100, in full-goatskin, and issued in an off-white cloth-bound slipcase. Three volumes, numbered in Volume II. Spine height: 28.8cm. Trimmed page size 282 x 200mm. Vol. I: Introduction and Books I-V, 456 pages. Vol. II: Books VI-X, editorial notes, 456 pages. Typeset by Castle Hill Press in Caslon, Lawrence's preferred typeface. Printed by Cambridge University Press on 80g.s.m. Supreme Bookwove, a high-quality acid-free off-white book paper, and bound by The Fine Bindery in full Oxford-blue Harmatan goatskin. Hand-marbled endpapers by Ann Muir, using an unusual double-marbling process. Bound in full Oxford-blue goatskin, head and tail bands. Vol. III: Illustrations and parallel text of the introductory book. Illustrations, 152 pages: Part I (in colour) The Seven Pillars Portraits. Part II a selection from Lawrence's collection of war photographs. Printed by the Burlington Press, bound in quarter blue goatskin with off-white cloth sides, bound with: Parallel text of the introductory book: An 88-page parallel text showing two versions of the Introductory Book of Seven Pillars. The left-hand pages reproduce Lawrence's revised text as sent to Bernard and Charlotte Shaw on 27 September 1924, and right-hand pages show the final text of the subscribers' abridgement. The parallel text displays exactly what changes were made as a result of advice from Bernard Shaw and others, and settles once and for all the argument about the possible scale of Shaw's alterations to Seven Pillars. Portfolio of proof portraits: the three volumes are accompanied by a cloth-bound portfolio of proofs of the Seven Pillars portraits, interleaved with Japanese paper. A set in Fine condition in a Fine slipcase and with Fine bindings. 2 volumes, folio (282 x 196mm), pp. I: [i]-[xxii], [1]-433, [1 (blank)]; II: [10 (preliminaries)], [435]-879, [1 (acknowledgements)]; original full Oxford-blue crushed morocco by The Fine Bindery, spines divided into compartments by raised bands, gilt-lettered directly in 2 and at the foot of the spine, turn-ins roll-tooled in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Second edition, no. 84 of 80 sets in full goatskin, from an edition of 752. [ With, as issued:] T.E. LAWRENCE. Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Illustrations. Fordingbridge: The Burlington Press for Castle Hill Press, 1997. Pp. [6 (half-title, frontispiece, title, colophon, contents, list of illustrations)], [2 (list of photographs)]; 21 colour-printed plates with illustrations recto-and-verso after Augustus John, Eric Kennington, William Roberts, et al., one double-page, and 52 half-tone plates with illustrations recto-and-verso (acknowledgements on final verso). First edition thus. [Bound with, as issued:] T.E. LAWRENCE. Introduction to Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The Text of the Sample Proof of Chapters I-VIII as Circulated by Lawrence in September 1924 together with the Equivalent Text from the 1926 Edition, Showing the Amendments Made on the Advice of Bernard Shaw and Others. Fordingbridge: The Burlington Press for Castle Hill Press, 1997. Pp. [2 (blank l.)], [6 (half-title, verso blank, title, colophon, contents, preface)], 81, [1 (blank)]. 2 works bound in one volume, folio (282 x 200mm). Original dark-blue crushed morocco backed buckram by The Fine Bindery, top edges gilt, photographic endpapers. First edition, no. 31 of 80 copies, signed and numbered by the editor. [And, as issued with the de luxe sets:] Illustrations to Seven Pillars of Wisdom. [Fordingbridge: Castle Hill Press, 1997]. Title-leaf, 2 folding colour-printed maps, 40 proof portraits after John, Kennington, Roberts, et al. printed by Hostench, each numbered in pencil on the verso and interleaved with tissue guards, and printed note with Castle Hill Press letterhead about the maps, slipcase, and proof portraits; all loose as issued in cloth portfolio. Each proof portrait number 84 of 250. Second (first published) edition of the 1922 text, set no. 84
Seller: OJ-BOOKS ABA / PBFA, SOLIHULL, United Kingdom
Price: US$17500.00 + shipping
Description: This is the very first set issued of the finest publishers binding of the very first commercial publication of the fullest surviving text of T. E. Lawrences magnum opus, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Incredibly, this 1922 text had to wait three quarters of a century to see publication here by Castle Hill Press, the premier publishers of material by and about T. E. Lawrence, founded by Lawrences official biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017). This particular set justifies the exceptionally long wait and suits the extraordinary content.This set, Number "1" of just 20 issued thus, is unequivocally the most comprehensive ever publication of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, showcasing both meticulous scholarship and superb fine press craftsmanship. The set comprises six volumes and a clamshell illustrations folio, all housed in two massive Solander cases. 752 numbered sets were published in 1997, but the first 20 were particularly special unique not only in their bindings, but also in content (the Introduction and two 1922/26 Parallel Text volumes and illustrations (folio proof portraits).For the two volumes containing the 1922 text (the fullest extant text), the publisher commissioned award-winning book designer Glenn Bartley to work with The Fine Bindery. The result was striking bindings in full tan and blue goatskin with dark pink marbled calf onlay, all edges gilt, hand-sewn head and tail bands, leather joints, and suede doublures. Two volumes containing parallel presentation of the 1922 and 1926 texts allow readers to see at a glance exactly what was omitted and what was revised, illuminating the two texts significant style and content differences. These parallel text volumes are bound in quarter brown goatskin over brown cloth with hand-marbled endpapers and gilt top edges. A single volume containing the eight chapters of the Introductory Book of Seven Pillars in parallel 1924/1936 text is likewise bound in quarter brown goatskin. A companion volume of illustrations is bound in full black, blind-ruled goatskin with all edges gilt and illustrated endpapers. A black clamshell case nested within one of the massive cloth Solanders contains an unbound proof set of the Seven Pillars portraits. This, set #1, is hand-numbered thus and signed by the Editor in Volume II of the main text volumes. The parallel text volumes are also numbered "1 / 37" and signed by Wilson. Each of the Seven Pillars portraits is printed "I / 250" on the verso. A typed, signed and annotated elucidation about conception and execution of the 20 special sets is laid in. Condition of the set is pristine, each volume appearing untouched, the massive Solander cases showing only a few, tiny corner bumps.Despite the superlative bindings and presentation, Jeremy Wilson himself stated "the most important thing was the text." Seven Pillars is the story of Thomas Edward Lawrence's (1888-1935) remarkable odyssey as instigator, organizer, 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 variously reconcile and reject, to recount and repress. Lawrence famously resisted broad publication of Seven Pillars during his lifetime. Following Lawrences fatal 1935 motorcycle crash, his masterwork was rushed into print in the only version readily available - the 1926 "Subscribers" abridgement. That 250,000-word text released to the world as "Complete and Unabridged" was neither. But it sold very well, so the publishers long resisted publishing the full, 334,500-word 1922 "Oxford Text", which "could only be a direct commercial threat to the highly profitable investment they had already made." Hence the 1922 "Oxford Text" a third longer was not published until this 1997 edition. Reference: OBrien A034a This remarkable piece of 20th century fine press scholarship and production is the very first set issued of the finest publishers binding of the very first commercial publication of the fullest surviving text of Lawrences masterpiece, Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Incredibly, this 1922 text had to wait three quarters of a century to see publication here by Castle Hill Press, the premier publishers of material by and about T. E. Lawrence, founded by Lawrences official biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017). This particular set justifies the exceptionally long wait and suits the extraordinary content.This set, Number "1" of just 20 issued thus, is unequivocally the most comprehensive ever publication of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, showcasing both meticulous erudition and superb craftsmanship. The set comprises six volumes and a clamshell illustrations folio, all housed in two massive Solander cases. For the two volumes containing the 1922 text (the fullest extant text), the publisher commissioned award-winning book designer Glenn Bartley to work with The Fine Bindery. The result was striking bindings in full tan and blue goatskin with dark pink marbled calf onlay, all edges gilt, hand-sewn head and tail bands, leather joints, and suede doublures. Two volumes containing parallel presentation of the 1922 and 1926 texts allow readers to see at a glance exactly what was omitted and what was revised, illuminating the two texts significant style and content differences. These parallel text volumes are bound in quarter brown goatskin over brown cloth with hand-marbled endpapers and gilt top edges. A single volume containing the eight chapters of the Introductory Book of Seven Pillars in parallel 1924/1936 text is likewise bound in quarter brown goatskin. A companion volume of illustrations is bound in full black, blind-ruled goatskin with all edges gilt and illustrated endpapers. A black clamshell case nested within one of the massive cloth Solanders contains an unbound proof set of the Seven Pillars
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.