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LAWRENCE (T[homas]. E[dward]., known as Lawrence of Arabia)
See original version (French)
40
-
LAWRENCE (T[homas]. E[dward]., known as Lawrence of Arabia)
See original version (French)
Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
Voluntary lot
Description
LAWRENCE (T[homas]. E[dward]., known as Lawrence of Arabia)
Miranshah, India [now Pakistan], 22 July 1928.
Autograph letter signed ‘T. E. Shaw’ to Herbert.
2 pages, in-12 (17.3 x 10.8 cm).
An amusing letter in which Lawrence asks for funds for himself and Corporal Jack Easton.
‘We do not know who is now pay-master at Peshawar, except that it is a temporary appointment, as Corporal Smith is away. Would you be so kind as to place this note at his feet, and beg him to do his best to fill our pockets? There is no hurry: when he next sends money. I’d like to make it a standing order in my case: – to allow no accumulation of funds. I can make much better use of the money than the Government of India can.”
In 1925, under the name ‘Shaw’, he enlisted in the Royal Tank Regiment. During his posting in Miranshah, India, he used this time to write *The Matrix*, an account of his years in the Royal Air Force, as well as a translation of Homer’s *Odyssey*.
With writing as his main occupation, he asked his correspondent for news of his typewriter, as his old one was faulty: ‘The “E” on this one has taken to leaping out […] it leapt all over the table like a spring salmon before I realised the gum arabic solution’.
He gives a brief update on the town, sarcastically noting that ‘Miranshah is busy: a moral operation is being carried out in the hills to the south-west. The morals are ours, of course’. He adds in a postscript, in a more pointed tone, “‘If “pay” won’t listen to your charm, then let me know, and we’ll send “officials”’”.
Shortly after this letter, in September 1928, an article in the New York Times claimed that Colonel Lawrence was posing as ‘a Muslim saint’, spying on Bolshevik agents in India. Although this rumour was never proven, some critics pointed out the absurdity of Colonel Lawrence being sent into a hostile area under an alias (Shaw) and with a lower rank. The New York Times humorously raised the possibility that this was merely an ‘eccentricity’ on the part of Colonel Lawrence, who wished to enjoy ‘the healthier climate of Amritsar’. The British government refuted the accusations but recalled Lawrence to England at the end of 1928.
A few tears, inevitably at the folds; very slight foxing.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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