T. E. Lawrence: A Guide to Printed and Manuscript Materials

Select reading list 1: Introductory

By Jeremy Wilson

Contents:

Starting out
Youth and archaeology, 1888-1914
The war, 1914-18
Post-war 1919-1935
Reference works

This select reading list is intended for someone who has recently become interested in T. E. Lawrence. More specialised lists on different aspects of Lawrence's life will follow. Approximate page-counts are given as an indication of length, and are generally taken from English editions.

I have always preferred reading lists where the compiler gives personal judgements about the books described. I make no apology for doing so here. If you disagree, you are welcome to say so!

Fuller details about editions the works mentioned and their contents will be found in the main alphabetical listing of the Guide.

Starting out

In 1998 I was commissioned by Sutton Publishing to contribute a 20,000-word biography of Lawrence to their 'Pocket Biography' series edited by Christine Nicholls, previously an editor with the Dictionary of National Biography. The series aims to follow similar standards to the DNB, but to provide longer accounts which do more justice to their subjects' lives. This short biography of Lawrence was written from scratch (it is not an abridgement of the Authorised Biography) and published as Jeremy Wilson Lawrence of Arabia (Stroud, Sutton Publishing, 1998, x,113 pp.) 

For a well-chosen introductory work using selections from writings by and about Lawrence, try: David Garnett (ed.), The essential T. E. Lawrence (328pp., London, Jonathan Cape; NY, Dutton, 1951. Reprinted in paperback with a new introduction by Malcolm Brown, Oxford, OUP, 1992).

For those with more stamina I would recommend, first, David Garnett (ed.), Letters of T. E. Lawrence (896pp., London, Jonathan Cape, 1939, Garden City, NY, Doubleday, Doran, 1939). Both of these first editions are readily available second-hand. However, the 'best edition' (London, Spring Books, 1964) is slightly less common. It includes a number of corrections and additional notes as well as a new foreword by B. H. Liddell Hart.

Note that Garnett's original collection should not be confused with the 384pp. British book-club abridgement, issued under the same title by World Books/The Reprint Society in 1939, and by Jonathan Cape (titled Selected Letters of T. E. Lawrence) in 1954.

While I think that Garnett's edition is still unsurpassed as a rounded introductory collection, interested readers should supplement it with: Malcolm Brown (ed.), The letters of T. E. Lawrence (600pp., London, Dent, 1988; NY, W. W. Norton, 1989 [as T. E. Lawrence: the selected letters]; paperback Oxford, OUP, 1991). The US edition and OUP paperback, being corrected, are better texts than the English hardback edition.

After this general introduction, many people will prefer to continue by reading selectively about a particular period or aspect of Lawrence's life.

I myself would not read the heavyweight biographies before the main collections of Lawrence's letters. However, you might choose to follow the letters with a reading of the major studies. Even if you prefer to concentrate on primary materials, it could be useful to look at relevant sections of the key biographical works. These certainly include the five below, listed in chronological order:

A. W. Lawrence (ed.), T. E. Lawrence by his Friends (596pp., London, Jonathan Cape; Garden City NY, Doubleday, Doran, 1937; paperback with an additional essay by W. H. Auden: NY, McGraw-Hill, 1963). This major collection, published two years after Lawrence's death, contains much that is flattering - de mortuis nil nisi bonum - but also much that is of interest. The full 1937 text should not be confused with the 320pp. abridgement published under the same title by Jonathan Cape in 1954, which omits the testimony of many 'minor' figures and is far less worthwhile.

A. W. Lawrence (ed.), Letters to T. E. Lawrence (216pp., London, Jonathan Cape, 1962). A selection of letters from Lawrence's more famous correspondents. It is a valuable companion to the Letters collections.

John E. Mack, A prince of our disorder, The life of T. E. Lawrence (580pp., London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson; Boston, Little, Brown, 1976). Reprinted in 1998 as a Harvard paperback This is the longest and much the most interesting of the biographical 'interpretations', written by a Harvard professor of psychiatry. There are occasional factual errors, but these are minor compared to the unpardonable mistakes present in many of the popular or 'controversial' interpretations.

Jeremy Wilson, T. E. Lawrence (256pp., London, National Portrait Gallery, 1988). A large-format catalogue of the Centenary Exhibition held at the NPG in 1988-9. I have included it here because it is the most lavish Lawrence picture book ever published, containing over 450 captioned illustrations in colour and b&w relating to all periods in Lawrence's life.

Jeremy Wilson, Lawrence of Arabia, the authorised biography (1,200pp., London, Heinemann, 1989; NY, Atheneum, l990). This is the principal historical biography of Lawrence, and by far the fullest in terms both of treatment and sources. An abridged paperback 'concise edition' (London, Mandarin, 1991; NY, Collier Books, 1992) was intended as a more introductory work and is therefore less likely to be of value to someone seriously interested in Lawrence.

Youth and archaeology 1888-1914

T. E. Lawrence, Crusader castles (56pp., London, The Golden Cockerel Press, 1936). The text of Lawrence's Oxford B.A. thesis about the influence of the crusades on European military architecture to the end of the twelfth century. The best edition is the one prepared by Denys Pringle, which contains additional previously-unpublished material by Lawrence as well as scholarly notes (Oxford, OUP, 1985).

British Museum, Carchemish, report on the excavations at Djerabis... (3 Vols., London, British Museum, 1914-52). Lawrence's photographs and notes from the Carchemish excavations were used in all three volumes of this archaeological report. 

The Diary of T. E. Lawrence MCMXI (approx. 20pp., N.pl., Corvinus Press, 1937, 203 copies). A diary kept by Lawrence during a short walking tour after the end of the first season's excavations at Carchemish. The best text is the reprint in Oriental Assembly (see below) which has explanatory notes by A. W. Lawrence.

C. Leonard Woolley and T. E. Lawrence, The Wilderness of Zin (176pp., London, Palestine Exploration Fund, 1915). In the winter of 1913-14 Lawrence and Leonard Woolley were sent to join a party of Royal Engineers who were carrying out a survey of the Turkish-held part of the Sinai Peninsula. The archaeological investigations were intended to put a scholarly gloss on what was fundamentally a military survey. This report is illustrated by Lawrence's photographs. A second edition was published after Lawrence's death (London, Jonathan Cape; NY, Scribner's, 1936).

Letters for this period

[M. R. Lawrence (ed.)], The home letters of T. E. Lawrence and his brothers (T.E.L.'s letters, 392p., Oxford, Basil Blackwell; NY, Macmillan,1954). Bob Lawrence's editing has been rightly criticised for its many silent omissions and other misdemeanours, but this is still a major source for the period 1906-14. There are also interesting references to Lawrence in his brothers' letters.

J. M. Wilson (ed.), T. E. Lawrence: letters to E. T. Leeds (164pp., Andoversford, Whittington Press, 1985, 750 copies). In 1906 Leeds was appointed Assistant Keeper at the Ashmolean. He met Lawrence soon afterwards, and the two became friends. During the Carchemish period Leeds was Lawrence's main correspondent outside his family. This edition contains fifty letters set in a memoir written by Leeds after Lawrence's death.

The war, 1914-18

T. E. Lawrence (compiler), Military report on the Sinai peninsula (192pp., London, Geographical Section, General Staff, 1914, classified, 1500 copies). Compiling this route guide was one of Lawrence's first wartime tasks, carried out while he was working in the Geographical Section of the General Staff in London. A reprint is in preparation.

T. E. Lawrence, Seven pillars of wisdom, a triumph (London, Jonathan Cape; Garden City NY, Doubleday, Doran, 1935). Lawrence's account of the Arab Revolt, written from his personal standpoint. The 1935 printing omitted the original first chapter, which was restored to British editions in 1940. In order to avoid possible libel actions, a small number of blank passages were omitted (left blank) in trade printings prior to 1973. That year a reformatted edition was published in the UK (London, Jonathan Cape, 1973). This remains the best trade edition. Subsequently, in 1976, Cape's designer decided to omit the dates from the running headlines throughout the book, thereby greatly reducing its historical value! Despite protests, the dates have yet to be restored in Cape printings. The best recent editions are in paperback (Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1962; NY, Doubleday). In both cases, however, the libel blanks are still present.

Lawrence's fuller 1922 text, which is a third longer than the version above, was published in a 3-volume limited edition by Castle Hill Press in 1997. 

Lawrence also published a popular abridgement of Seven Pillars called Revolt in the desert (London, Jonathan Cape; NY, George H. Doran, 1927).

Letters and reports for this period

Malcolm Brown (ed.), Secret despatches from Arabia and other writings (188pp., London, Bellew Publishing, 1991). The text incorporates the earlier Secret despatches from Arabia (ed. A. W. Lawrence, London, Golden Cockerel Press, 1939). A fuller edition of Lawrence's wartime writings, War Diaries and Letters, is to be published following publication of the 'Oxford' Seven pillars.

[M. R. Lawrence (ed.)], The home letters of T. E. Lawrence and his brothers (Oxford, Basil Blackwell; NY, Macmillan, 1954) contains on pp. 300-351 the only significant series of private letters written by Lawrence during the war period.

Post war

a. service career, 1919-35

T. E. Lawrence, The mint (206pp., London, Jonathan Cape; Garden City NY, Doubleday, 1955). Lawrence's study of life in the ranks of the RAF at Uxbridge and Cranwell. In Britain, there was no unexpurgated trade edition before 1973. Five years later, this was reprinted in paperback with an additional preface by Jeremy Wilson (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books).

Biographical study

H. Montgomery Hyde, Solitary in the ranks, T. E. Lawrence as airman and private soldier (London, Constable, 1977; NY, Atheneum, 1978; paperback London, Constable, 1987). An account of Lawrence's life in the ranks built round his correspondence with Sir Hugh Trenchard.

b. Lawrence's minor post-war writings

Collected editions

Stanley and Rodelle Weintraub (eds.), Evolution of a Revolt (176pp., University Park, PA, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1968). Early post-war writings on the Arab Revolt and Lawrence's subsequent political campaign. A useful collection which, nevertheless, omits some texts apparently within its remit.

Harold Orlans (ed.) Lawrence of Arabia, strange man of letters (334pp., Rutherford, etc, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1993). Another useful collection, containing Lawrence's public and private literary criticism and including all the content of the earlier Men in Print.

Works edited by Lawrence

Ian McKinnon, Garoot, adventures of a Clydeside apprentice (252pp., London, Jonathan Cape, 1933). A very minor work about the author's wartime experiences in the Middle East, edited for publication by Lawrence. Copies are difficult to locate.

Jeremy Wilson (ed.), Minorities (London, Jonathan Cape, 1971; Garden City NY, Doubleday, 1972). Lawrence's private commonplace book of poetry, collected between 1919 and 1927.

Translations by Lawrence

Adrien le Corbeau, The Forest Giant, translated by J. H. Ross (160pp. London, Jonathan Cape; NY, Harper & Brothers, 1924). A minor French novel about the life-cycle of a tree, translated by Lawrence in 1923. There were also posthumous editions (London, Jonathan Cape, 1935; Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, Doran, 1936).

The Odyssey of Homer, translated by T. E. Lawrence (London, privately printed, 550 copies; NY, OUP, 1932). This translation made by Lawrence between 1928 and 1932 was remarkable successful and is readily available second-hand.

Major prefaces and introductions

Charles M. Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta, with an introduction by T. E. Lawrence (2 vols., London, Jonathan Cape & The Medici Society, 1921). An introduction written by Lawrence to help sell the first of Jonathan Cape's printings, and then withdrawn. It is included in all recent editions in Britain and the US, including the Dover paperback.

Bertram Thomas, Arabia Felix, with a foreword by T. E. Lawrence (London, Jonathan Cape; NY, Scribners', 1932). Lawrence greatly admired Bertram Thomas's crossing of the Empty Quarter of Arabia, and was persuaded to write this Foreword to help promote the book.

Minor writings relating to the Middle East (all periods)

A. W. Lawrence (ed.), Oriental Assembly (178pp., London, Williams & Norgate, 1939; NY, E. P. Dutton, 1940). A collection of Lawrence's minor writings, including the Diary MCMXI, illustrated with his photographs. Reprinted with an introduction by Malcolm Brown (London, Imperial War Museum, 1991).

Two key reference works:

Descriptive bibliography:

Philip M. O'Brien, T. E. Lawrence, a bibliography (740pp., Winchester, St Pau1's Bibliographies, 1988, ISBN 0-906795-40-0. Second edition, revised, Oak Knoll Books, 2000).

Iconography

Charles Grosvenor, An iconography: the portraits of T. E. Lawrence (144pp., Pasadena, The Otterden Press, 1988, 1,000 copies)