Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Jonathan Cape, 1935.
First trade edition. 4to. Finely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe for Asprey in full tan morocco with gilt titles and vignettes to spine and upper board. All edges gilt. Fifty-four illustrations, a few are line drawings in the text, the majority are black and white plates. Four folding maps. A fine copy.
The author's magnum opus and famous account of his part in the Arab Revolt of 1916. Lawrence vowed that the text would not be made publicly available in his lifetime. Thus, within two months of Lawrence's death in 1935, Jonathan Cape, who had earlier published an abridged version under the title of Revolt in the Desert issued the text in full. It became an immediate best seller with 100,000 copies sold in the remainder of that year alone, and has since gone on to be one of the most influential and highly regarded pieces of military and literary prose of the twentieth century. Churchill was of the opinion, "It ranks with the greatest books written in the English language."
Stock ID: 45571
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