lawrence arabia authorised biography t e de wilson jeremy (3 résultats)

Octavo softcover (VG); all our specials have minimal description to keep listing them viable. They are at least reading copies, complete and in reasonable condition, but usually secondhand; frequently they are superior examples. Ordering more than one book may reduce your overall postage costs.

Hardcover. Etat : Good. Etat de la jaquette : Fair. The dust jacket is a little chipped, creased and warped. The text itself is very good, just a little yellowing on the side of the text block. 2125.

First UK edition, each volume signed by Wilson on the title page. This copy was bound for Colonel Philip Leslie Bradfer-Lawrence, a prominent collector of T. E. Lawrence material. The archives of Lawrence's service record were first unsealed in 1968. In 1971 Jeremy Wilson, who had edited Lawrence's poetry collection Minorities in the same year, was asked by Lawrence's family to write the first authorized biography of Lawrence using this archival material. Wilson refused, aware of the overwhelming scope of the job, but later agreed in 1974. It was first announced in 1977, and Wilson spent the next 15 years collecting evidence from government records, interviews, and Lawrence's letters before final release. In particular, he was adamant that though it was an authorized biography, it would not be censored by the family and would present a view of Lawrence based wholly on contemporary sources. The first edition of this text was published by private agreement between the Castle Hill Press and William Heinemann, coming out to widespread critical acclaim. The Scotsman described it as "bound to be the definitive life", commending Wilson for "devoting almost half of his book to the Arab Revolt and to Lawrence's part in it", ensuring "that in future greater stress will be laid on what I believe to be Lawrence's true claim to greatness and rather less on what are really not much more than secondary aspects of his story". The New York Times wrote: "this biography will endure beside Seven Pillars as his monument, and any future book about T. E. Lawrence will be but a commentary on it". Meanwhile, Kirkus Reviews labelled it "not likely to be bettered - a fabulous life told with restraint". The biography, usually found as one volume, is here bound as three. Bradfer-Lawrence had a title page made for each volume, after the original, which were then signed by Wilson. He also had a new contents page made for Parts II and III. These additions are printed on slightly lighter paper. Provenance: Colonel Philip Leslie Bradfer-Lawrence (1917-2005), with a loosely inserted note from Moorside Books identifying it as Bradfer-Lawrence's personal copy. Bradfer-Lawrence was the son of the antiquarian and collector Harry Lawrence Bradfer-Lawrence (1887-1965). Bradfer-Lawrence served in the Corps of Royal Engineers across various theatres in the Second World War including North Africa, was a member of the Roxburghe Club, and owned a large T. E. Lawrence collection, including fine bindings sold at Sotheby's on 13 July 2006. This copy was not included. O'Brien E433. Fitzroy Maclean, "The Enigma Fleshed Out", The Scotsman, 16 December 1989; Nigel Nicolson,"'Never Forget That You Have Seen Him'", New York Times, 10 June 1990; "Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorized Biography of T.E. Lawrence", Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 1990. 3 vols, octavo (231 x 152 mm). With 32 plates, 7 maps in text. Contemporary red quarter crushed morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe/Zaehnsdorf with their stamp to top left corner of front free endpaper verso, spine gilt-lettered direct in compartments, raised bands, red cloth covers, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. Housed in grey cloth slipcase. Slight abrasion to first compartment of vol. I: a fine set.