Lawrence, T. E. (1888-1935)
Two autograph letters signed to William McCance, controller of the Gregynog Press, with associated correspondence
Estimate: £1,500 - £2,000
Auction: 19 September 2024 from 10:00 BST
Description
RAF Mount Batten, Plymouth, 10 October 1932 and 8 February 1933, each written in black ink on both sides of a single sheet (22.8 x 17.9cm), respectively signed ‘T. E. S.’ and ‘T. E. Shaw’, both concerning Gregynog's publication of Sufism-inspired poem The Singing Caravan by Robert Vansittart ('I am so glad you are doing this book. H-S [Blair Hughes-Stanton] wrote to me that he did not like it: but then he is a person of unusual mind … Probably he dislikes meringues and eclairs, trifles and omlettes souflees [sic] … It flatters my conceit to fancy that I may have helped you to decide upon the Caravan for your press … I have ordered a copy, of course, and persuaded a few people to order one too'; ‘The Caravan delights me. The print is small & neat & fine: paper and binding all right; and the decoration most fitting … You must have got a Persian to do the cutting [of the lettering on the title-page]. I can’t read Arabic script so can only admire its decorative effect. My only reservation is the frontispiece … And oh, why, why, so much “Jap vellum” … which is neither vellum nor Japanese?'), also including a lengthy recommendation of Darrell Figgis's Children of Earth (1918) as another project for the press ('I know that Figgis was a queer flat fist … but Children of Earth is remarkable …'), and compliments on the press's edition of Erewhon.
Together with: Robert Vansittart, 16 autograph letters signed to William McCance, 1932-4, discussing the publication of The Singing Caravan and Lawrence's refusal to provide a preface and a specimen of Arabic lettering; 1 autograph letter signed from Vansittart's wife to William McCance; William McCance, manuscript draft letter to T. E. Lawrence, 13 August 1932, 3 pp., on Gregynog stationery, concerning the design of The Singing Caravan, the ethos of ‘the Private Press movement’, the economics and process of letterpress printing; 5 further leaves of McCance's letters drafts; and a telegram from Vansittart to McCance (a folder)
Provenance
Mrs Margaret McCance, second wife of William McCance, controller of the Gregynog Press from 1930 to 1933.
