SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM.
London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1935. First edition thus: limited issue of the trade edition, both of which were preceded by two rare limited editions published in the 1920's. Number 701 of 750 numbered copies. "Lawrence of Arabia's" autobiographical account of his experiences serving with rebel forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks as a British liaison officer from 1916 to 1918. 4to quarter tan pigskin over brown buckram boards; gilt stamped spine and front cover; top edge gilt, all other edges untrimmed; marbled endpapers. Small abrasion to top-edge gilt otherwise very fine. Lacking the rare, plain brown paper dust jacket but in a slipcase which appears to be original as it is covered in a plain tan cloth very closely matching the color of the leather spine. Philip O'Brien in his Lawrence bibliography notes that the "jacket [is] rarely present" and calls for the book to be "boxed." If the slipcase present here is the box he speaks of, it would seem to be quite rare as we are unable to locate a copy in slipcase offered online or another picture of the book with one. Provenance: purchased from a collector who informed us he bought this copy 30 years ago from a "Lawrence specialist" in Pennsylvania named Dennis MacDonald (we are unaware of this dealer who, according to the collector, died years ago.) Regardless of its history, this is a beautiful copy of the book and a quite pleasing slipcase which shows only very minor wear. It would be hard to find a nicer copy.
Item #54967
Price: $3,750.00