26cm x 20.5cm
First trade edition of one of T.E. Lawrence's best-known works. Published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1935. Bound in fine half brown Morocco with ribbed gilt decorated spine, and marbled boards. Quarto. Illustrated throughout with a photogravure portrait frontispiece of Lawrence from the plaster bust, four folding maps and several in-text line drawings; the majority by Eric Kennington.
‘Lawrence had taken part in the preliminary planning of the Arab uprising and, in October 1916, was ordered to Jiddah to assess the military situation. What followed is recorded in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, a personal, emotional narrative of the Arab Revolt in which Lawrence reveals how by sheer willpower he made history. It was a testimony to his vision and persistence and a fulfillment of his desire to write an epic which might stand comparison in scale and linguistic elegance with his beloved Morte d'Arthur and C. M. Doughty's Arabia Desert. Subtitled 'A triumph', its climax is the Arab liberation of Damascus, a victory which successfully concludes a grueling campaign and vindicates Lawrence's faith in the Arabs.’ (ODNB).