LAWRENCE, T.E., letters, autographs, documents, manuscripts



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LAWRENCE, T.E. (1888-1935). 'Lawrence of Arabia'.
Autograph cheque, signed ('J.H. Ross'), payable to John Bartholomew & Son Ltd for £65, 6 October 1926. On the printed cheque form of the Bank of Liverpool & Martins Limited, the signature cancelled in red ink and also affected (very slightly) by the bank's rubber stamp and the perforated dated-stamp.
John Bartholomew & Son were an old-established firm of map makers. In December 1926 Lawrence issued the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Although the book retailed at 30 guineas it had cost him three times that much to produce. To help pay of the debt incurred he issued the abridged Revolt in the Desert, and to escape the attendant publicity left for India by troop ship at the end of December. Bartholomew's supplied him with maps.
The signature on the cheque is something of a puzzle. Lawrence changed his name to John Hume Ross on enlisting in the ranks of the Royal Air Force in 1922, but he changed it again to 'T.E. Shaw' in 1923. Evidently he chose to continue his bank account under the former identity.
[No: 21451]


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