Lawrence of Arabia’s Seven pillars of wisdom

Lawrence’s account of his involvement in the Arab revolt during the Great War stands as one of the major English-language literary works of the twentieth century. Lawrence began writing Seven pillars of wisdom: a triumph immediately after the war. He had a major setback in 1919 when he lost the greater part of the original manuscript on a platform at Reading railway station. Encouraged by his friends, however, he began again, and in 1926 a limited subscriber’s deluxe first edition of fewer than 200 copies was issued. An abridged version, titled The revolt in the desert, came out a year later, but a full trade edition only appeared after Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident in 1935.
The original subscribers’ edition of Seven pillars had sold for 30 guineas, but even that considerable sum had not been enough to cover the cost of production. And because Lawrence wished no further edition to appear in his lifetime, copies quickly increased in value, and were worth £300 at the time of his death. That year a copy of the rare edition came up for sale in Australia. The Australian War Memorial’s Board of Trustees, realising that the book would represent an important addition to the Australian Light Horse records held in its collection, decided after much consultation to buy the book. The purchase was financed by funds donated by the Australian Light Horse Association.
The book reflected Lawrence’s love of exquisitely produced books. Each copy of the subscriber’s edition had its own individual binding. The Memorial’s copy has a gold-tooled, Oxford blue morocco leather binding with raised cords. Each new chapter begins with an illuminated first letter. The text was printed on high-quality paper and laid out with much consideration given to balance on the page. Respected contemporary artists were commissioned, and their works, which include landscapes and portraits of the main Arab and British participants, give the book a modernist feel.