Beschreibung:

T.E. Lawrence
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. [Oxford: for the author by the Oxford Times, 1922]
6 leaves of page proofs, comprising three complete chapters of the 1922 text (chapters 111, 112, and 115), double column, 281 x 216mm, creasing at edges with a few nicks, rust mark to one leaf; [with:] remains of three wrap-around bands with later annotations noting the place of these sections within the on the text; blue cloth slipcase
PAGES FROM THE CELEBRATED LAWRENCE RARITY, THE OXFORD PRINTING OF SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM. After having lost his first manuscript of Seven Pillars of Wisdom at Reading station in 1919, and having (probably) burnt his second manuscript in early 1922, by the time Lawrence had completed his third manuscript version of Seven Pillars he was understandably keen to ensure that he had the text in multiple copies. He discovered that the cost of having the Oxford Times typeset the text and run off a few copies was little more than employing a typist, and eight copies were duly printed. Lawrence circulated these copies amongst friends and writers – including Bernard Shaw, E.M. Forster, Thomas Hardy and Siegfried Sassoon. Although these copies are often called proofs, they were not a trial impression for a publication but a draft that formed a stage in the complex composition process of the book. Lawrence revised the text extensively before committing it to print in the 1926 Cranwell edition (see lots ***), working from one of the Oxford printings rather than his original manuscript. Another copy of the Oxford printing was given to Edward Garnett for abridgement, and this was published as Revolt in the Desert (1927). This group of leaves comprises three sections of two leaves, each section being a complete chapter in the 1922 edition of Seven Pillars. Two of the sections are consecutive and all three come towards the end of the book:
(a) The two leaves beginning “On July the eleventh” and ending “to improve our force” comprise chapter 111 of the 1922 text(b) The two leaves beginning “On July 28 I was in Akaba” and ending “without conscious strain or effort on my part” comprise chapter 112 in the 1922 text(c) The two leaves beginning “The machine took me back to Guweira” and ending “”would not retail them too loudly in Palestine!” comprise chapter 115 in the 1922 text.
The novel was, of course, substantially rewritten for the 1926 Cranwell edition. Revised versions of sections (a) and (b) combined became chapter 98 of the 1926 text; the revised version of section (c) is chapter 101 in the 1926 text. 
PROVENANCE:Colonel Robert Vere Buxton (1883-1953); H.M. Mushlin (bookseller); purchased 1965 by E. Bruce Tovee; Christie's, New York, 7 December 1990, lot 4