Seven Pillars of Wisdom,. The Complete 1922 Text

Castle Hill Press publications in fine bindings

T. E. Lawrence

Seven Pillars of Wisdom
The Complete 1922 'Oxford' Text

Special bindings of the Subscribers' Library Edition, 2003

Specification
For details of the size, printing and content see the specification for the Subscribers' Library Edition (cloth copies)

Above, from left to right, illustrations, a typical text opening, and the front and rear map endpapers. Click on the thumbnails to see the pictures enlarged in a new window.

180 numbered copies bound in quarter-goatskin

Bound by The Fine Bindery in quarter Nigerian goatskin with cloth sides. Top edge gilt, ribbon place marker, head and tail bands. Issued either in a temporary glassine dust-jacket or a black slip-case.

Although this binding has raised bands, the colours of the goatskin and cloth are uniform with other quarter-goatskin Castle Hill Press editions.

OUT OF PRINT

45 numbered copies bound in full goatskin
Bound by The Fine Bindery in full Nigerian goatskin (copies 1-5 in Oxford blue; copies 6-45 in brown). Gilt design on the front cover and spine based on one of the bindings for Lawrence's 1926 Subscribers' edition. All edges gilt, ribbon place marker, head and tail bands. Issued in a rigid slip-case, accompanied by a 34-page booklet by Jeremy Wilson containing a history of the edition and a discussion of differences between the 1922 text and the subscribers' abridgement.

OUT OF PRINT

(enlarged pictures open in a new window)

A paper portfolio in the slipcase includes the two maps and the companion booklet by Jeremy Wilson titled Publishing the Oxford Text of Seven Pillars of Wisdom'.

100 numbered and signed copies of the booklet were printed. Of these, 45 accompany full-leather copies of the Subscribers' Library Edition. The remaining 55 were bound with a plain card cover. Contents:

I: History of this Seven Pillars Project (pp. 3-8) - you can read a similar text here.
II: The early History of Seven Pillars (pp. 9-13)
III: Seven Pillars puzzles (pp. 13-16)
IV: Which text is better written? (pp. 16-19)
V: Typographical Tinkering (pp. 19-21)
VI: Unbalanced abridgement (pp. 21-27)
VII: Conclusion (pp. 27-8)
Notes (pp. 28-31)

Sections II-VII are a much-expanded version of the preface to the Subscribers' Library Edition. They embody the results of research carried out after its publication. In a large measure, the question about Lawrence's motives for the heavy cuts to the second half of the subscribers' Seven Pillars are now answered. This material is now online, in two parts:

A detailed history of the origins of the Castle Hill Press edition of the 1922 Seven Pillars
'Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Triumph and Tragedy', available on the T.E. Lawrence Studies website

Standard cloth binding and Trade Edition

Other Castle Hill Press special copies in fine bindings

Prospectus for this edition

History of the Castle Hill Press Seven Pillars
Price list

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Updated December 2004

Castle Hill Press The definitive scholarly edition of T. E. Lawrence's works and letters

Castle Hill Press
The definitive scholarly edition of T. E. Lawrence's works and letters