LAWRENCE T. E.: (1888-1935) British Lieutenant-Colonel, known as Lawrence of Arabia in recognition of his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule 1916-18. A very fine A.L.S., T. E. Lawrence, two pages, 8vo, Oxford, 18th September 1920, to Miss. Baird, on the printed stationery of All Souls College. Lawrence apologises for the delay in replying to his correspondent's letter ('I gave instructions that letters were not to be forwarded to me') and continues 'This will give you the measure of the accuracy of the article in "John of London". Mr Lowell Thomas is responsible for the "facts" in it, and the less exact they are, the more they please me.' Lawrence further explains 'Incidentally I can neither read nor write Arabic. I don't think it is worth your while puzzling yourself over Moslem services. It is a religion of the Desert, incomprehensible outside it' and concludes 'May I implore you not to put my autograph close to that of Mr. G. K. Chesterton'. Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Lawrence. Together with a T.L.S., Lowell Thomas, one page, slim 4to, Pawling, New York, 11th June 1975, to Vincent Edmunds. Thomas thanks his correspondent for having sent him a copy of Lawrence's letter and enquires as to how he came about it, continuing 'As you know a stream of books about Lawrence has descended upon us in the past thirty years. How many of them have been accurate, I don't know. But most of it has been pure speculation written by people who did not know him. I had found him a grand person, in every way. In 1967 Doubleday brought out a revised edition of my Lawrence of Arabia…..In this edition I reply to those who have attempted to belittle Lawrence, saying he was a homosexual and so on -- all of which was untrue. In that edition I also included much about the extraordinary group of men with whom he was associated in Arabia'. Thomas concludes by again referring to Lawrence's letter, 'As for the reference to John-of-London, I'm sure this referred to a publication and not to an individual. It had to do with the British nickname, John Bull.' A wonderful pair of letters with excellent content. VG to EX, 2

Lowell Thomas (1892-1981) American Writer & Broadcaster, responsible for making T. E. Lawrence famous through his dramatic film With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia (1919) and associated lectures.

G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) English Writer.

€3150-4400