1. The History of T. E. Lawrence Copyrights
T. E. Lawrence's copyrights during his lifetime
by Jeremy Wilson
In his lifetime, only four substantial texts by Lawrence were published. The first was The
Forest Giant, a commissioned translation of Le Gigantesque by Adrien le
Corbeau. It was undertaken for a flat fee.
The second was Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which Lawrence issued in a very costly
private subscription edition. Embarrassed that people might think he was making a huge
profit, he declared that he would take no money from it at all. The final outcome was far
worse than that: he spent so much on production that each copy cost three times more than
the subscriber paid for it.
The edition, issued at the end of 1926, left a huge debt. Lawrence decided to pay this
off by publishing an abridgement of Seven Pillars called Revolt in the Desert.
The Revolt in the Desert Trust1
In December 1926, during Lawrence's last days in London before leaving by troop-ship
for India, he made over the copyright and any surplus income of Revolt in the Desert to
a charitable trust, appointing as Trustees his banker Robin Buxton, D. G.
Hogarth, and
Edward Eliot (a London solicitor recommended by Buxton). He later told Hogarth that he had
'made the Trust final, to save myself the temptation of reviewing it, if Revolt turned
out a best seller.'2
This renunciation would eventually deprive Lawrence of considerable wealth, but it was
implicit in the decision he had taken in 1923 not to take any personal royalty from the
subscribers' edition of Seven Pillars. He could not now revoke his many statements
that he viewed the book as a consequence of his wartime role, and that he would make no
money from it. Moreover, it would be unthinkable to profit from an abridgement that some Seven
Pillars subscribers feared would devalue their costly investment. He suggested that if
publication produced surplus revenue, as seemed likely, the major beneficiary should be
the RAF Benevolent Fund set up by Air-Marshal Trenchard in 1919. In due course the Revolt Trustees
would establish an Anonymous Education Fund, administered by the RAF Benevolent Fund, 'for
the benefit of children of Royal Air Force officers, past and present, preference being
given to the children of officers who lost their lives or were invalided as a result of
service.'
In another letter to Hogarth, Lawrence set out his ideas for the Trust's management:
'The Trust Deed left the disposal of the money to the charitable discretion of the
Trustees: my idea was that the R.A.F. should get it all: except when any case turned up,
for which in the ordinary way money would not be available from any source: some really
interesting thing, for which we could gladly use a thousand or so: a new instance such as
C. M. Doughty's sudden shortage of money. I don't want the Trustees to work at the fund:
the line of least resistance is the R.A.F. Memorial, and that will take anything up to a
£100,000 gladly: but if a bright idea occurs to me I won't hesitate to send it in to
Eliot, and I think he won't refuse to consider it, at least. There is no power on earth
which can call in question your disposal of the cash: so let's have some fun with it: so
far as fun can be had without bothering Eliot, Robin and yourself. Simple fun. Let's hope
there will be thousands of pounds. The more, surely, the merrier. Chucking away things is
the best of sport. Here in the ranks I see many hard cases, which could be palliated by a
cheque: however I promise not to bother you. I rather envy you the job. It will, as you
say, go on for years: till I die and the Seven Pillars is reprinted'3
Revolt in the Desert withdrawn
In England, Revolt in the Desert quickly proved to be a best-seller. After four
reprints the Seven Pillars overdraft was wiped out. Lawrence then asked the
Trustees to enforce a special clause in the contract halting publication of the
abridgement. To soften the blow to his publishers, he allowed American editions and
translations (there were many) to continue. The bulk of the revenue was paid into the RAF
Memorial Fund.
Homer's Odyssey
The only other significant work by Lawrence published in his lifetime was his
translation of the Odyssey. In this case, he accepted a remarkably generous fee as
well as royalties on the subsequent American trade edition.
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust
by Michael Carey4
There were originally two Trusts, both set up in 1936 by A. W. Lawrence who was the
sole beneficiary under the will of T. E. Lawrence, and as such inherited the copyright in
all his brother's works. To the 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust' he assigned the copyright
in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which was shortly afterwards given its first
publication (apart from the private subscription edition of 1926). To the 'Letters and
Symposium Trust' he assigned the copyright in all his brother's letters and in the work,
shortly afterwards published, entitled T. E. Lawrence by his Friends (ed.
A.W.
Lawrence, London, Cape, 1937).
The two Trusts were amalgamated in 1986. On the death of Professor A. W. Lawrence in
1991, the Trustees acquired the copyright in all the works of T. E. Lawrence of which they
did not already own the copyright,* and in the works of Professor A. W. Lawrence himself.
The Trust is a charitable trust for (in effect) such charitable purposes as the Trustees
from time to time determine. The majority of grants are for archaeological, environmental
or academic projects.
* An important exception is the US
copyright of Seven Pillars of Wisdom (subscribers' text) which
was sold outright to Doubleday, Doran in 1935. Doubleday still control
publication rights of this text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom in the
USA.
Notes:
1. Adapted from Lawrence of Arabia, the Authorised Biography, pp.774-5.
2. T. E. Lawrence to D. G. Hogarth, 19.5.1927
3. T. E. Lawrence to D. G. Hogarth, 1.6.1927
4. Michael V. Carey, a successor to Edward Eliot, is a Trustee of the Seven Pillars of
Wisdom Trust. This note was first published in the T. E. Lawrence Society Newsletter,
No. 36. Autumn 1995. Copyright © Michael V. Carey, 1995.
Extracts from letters by T. E. Lawrence Copyright © The Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust,
1989.
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