Beschreibung:

LAWRENCE, T.E. Seven Pillars of Wisdom. A Triumph . [London: Privately Printed] 1926. 4 o (234 x180 mm). (Some occasional minor pale spotting.) Original black pigskin (specially bound for Lawrence), edges flush and stained black, plain white paper endpapers (slightly rubbed); niger morocco folding case gilt, title gilt-lettered on front and spine, "Proof Copy August 1926" gilt-lettered on spine, green velvet lining, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Provenance : T.E. Lawrence, given to -- Charlotte Shaw -- Dr. Jacob Schwartz, American book dealer, resident for many years in England -- Stanley Bray, manager of Sangorski & Sutcliffe, sold to -- bookseller H.M. Mushlin, sold to -- Dr. E. Bruce Tovee (purchased in 1963; photocopy of letter dated 19 August 1963), sold Christie's New York, 7 December 1990, lot 6 (catalogued as "possibly Lawrence's", although further information received from Jeremy Wilson confirmed this copy to be "without question" Lawrence's proof copy given to Charlotte Shaw; sale addenda included). LAWRENCE'S OWN WORKING PROOF OF THE SUBSCRIBER'S EDITION OF SEVEN PILLARS , LATER GIVEN BY HIM TO GEORGE BERNARD SHAW'S WIFE CHARLOTTE, "ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS" OF THE BOOK This copy is bound without the 66 plates, the pictorial endpapers, and folding maps found in regular complete copies; the binder has cut down its size slightly so that the leaves now measure approx. 9¼ x 7 1/16 (234 x 179 mm) as opposed to approx. 10 x 7½ (253 x 190 mm) in regular copies; the text leaves seemingly the same as in regular copies, but with some illustrations and initials poorly printed (see, for example woodcut initial on p. 335); pasted to the verso of the front free endpaper is the rare woodcut, with blank margins cut away, by Blair hughes-Stanton illustrating the dedicatory poem (four special copies [see lot 101] of the Subscriber's Edition are recorded containing the woodcut [each numbered out of five done]--see Wilson, T.E. Lawrence 237). This plate is seemingly printed on a heavier stock than the india proof paper used in the recorded copies. Accompanied by a printed "Sketch Map" of the Near East on thin card (minor wear at fold) which appears in larger format at the end of Revolt in the Desert . Text with the following (proof?) marks in the text: an ink looping check mark at the bottom of p. 119, at the bottom of p. 176, and at the bottom of p. 536; additionally, there is a large pencil mark on the inner margin of p. 525, and a pencilled word ("extra") on the inner margin of p. 527. O'Brien A040, not mentioning proof copies, but noting this copy: "One copy(23.3 x 18.8 cm.) [ sic ] bound in black pigskin, all edges black, with no plates, thought to be Lawrence's proof copy." This copy is one of the nine proof copies noted in a Lawrence manuscript (now at the University of Texas) entitled "History of Seven Pillars" and printed in facsimile in the Texas Quarterly , vol. V, no. 3, Autumn 1962. In this detailed accounting of copies of Seven Pillars Lawrence has a column headed "Proofs: sets of spoiled," followed by a list of nine recipients (his own name among them as "A/c Shaw"). In a letter from H.M. Mushlin to Dr. Tovee of 19 August 1963, the bookseller traces this copy's provenance: "This copy which is reputed to be T.E.L.'s copy, was bought be an America dealer, resident for many years in England, named Dr. Jacob Schwartz...He purchased this copy with a great deal of [George Bernard] Shaw material and sold the volume to Stanley Bray, managing director of Sangorksi and Sutcliffe...When the University of Texas issued the enclosed magazine [the Texas Quarterly mentioned above, a copy of which is in this lot] Schwartz wrote the enclosed note [see below] to Stanley and also enclosed the piece [see below] torn from the magazine which is enclosed herewith." Schwartz's note to Bray is dated 3 February 1963 and is typed on an envelope: "Dear Mr. Bray: This article [facsimile of the Lawrence manuscript from the Texas Quarterly issue] may i