Beschreibung:

Property of a Distinguished Collector T.E. Lawrence Autograph letter signed, to an unnamed correspondent explaining that he is unable to provide advice about a proposed trip to Akaba and Petra ("...I don't get letters thence, or write to anyone in the Middle East. That sort of thing ended nine years ago when I enlisted and became happy..."), but he hears that the travel agent Thomas Cook now runs a camp at Petra whilst "Akaba is a deserted ruin", explaining that his delayed response is because he has been testing boats for the RAF, 1 page, 4to, Royal Air Force, Plymouth, 10 June 1931 "...It sounds funny that the places still exist, while I have become so remote from what I used to be..." LAWRENCE COMMENTS WISTFULLY ON HIS DISTANCE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST. His correspondent is probably Leonard Handley (see lot 74). PROVENANCE: Phillips, 11 June 1999, lot 264