Is My Seven Pillars of Wisdom a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The 1926 Subscribers' edition (also called the Cranwell edition) was privately printed for subscribers in London in an edition of roughly 211 copies, of which about 170 were designated "complete." Complete copies carry Lawrence's manuscript inscription on p
• XIX — "Complete copy" with the date 1.XII.26 and his initials — together with his manuscript correction to the list of illustrations; page XV is mispaginated VIII. The text was set and printed by Manning Pike
• The book collates with 66 plates (frontispiece portrait of Feisal by Augustus John, plus work by Eric Kennington, William Roberts, William Nicholson and Paul Nash), four folding linen-backed colour maps, and 58 in-text illustrations
• Bindings vary copy to copy — most were executed in morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe and no two are alike — so binding is not a printing point for this edition
• Plate complements also vary: not every "complete" copy contains the two Paul Nash illustrations called for at pp
• 92 and 208 or the Blair Hughes-Stanton wood engraving, and some carry a "Prickly Pear" plate not called for in the list

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the US true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

Corrects the census claim. The earliest printing is the 1922 "Oxford" text — eight copies set and run off on a proofing press at the Oxford Times works (six survive), roughly one-third longer than the later text. In bibliographical terms that is the first edition, but it was never published: it served as a substitute for typescript and was not issued until Castle Hill Press printed it in 1997. The first PUBLISHED edition is therefore the 1926 Subscribers'/Cranwell edition, London, privately printed for subscribers (c. 211 copies) — the edition the census intends. A separate 1926 Doubleday, Doran copyright edition of 22 copies was printed in New York from proofs of the Subscribers' sheets solely to secure US copyright; it omits the plates and is not a trade issue. Both the 1935 Jonathan Cape (London) and 1935 Doubleday, Doran (New York) editions are collected as the first editions available to the general public, released within weeks of Lawrence's death in May 1935. The Cape limited issue of 750 copies and the Cape trade issue both appeared in 1935; dealer sources place the limited one day ahead of the trade, but that ordering could not be confirmed against a bibliography and should not be relied on.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

"First thus" traps dominate this title. Any 1935-or-later Cape or Doubleday, Doran printing sets an abridgement of the 1922 text and is routinely catalogued as "first trade edition" — accurate, but not the first edition of the work. Revolt in the Desert (Jonathan Cape, London, 1927; Doran, New York, 1927) is a separate Lawrence-made abridgement rather than an edition of Seven Pillars: a large-paper limited issue (reported variously as 300 or 315 copies; pigskin-backed buckram, colour plates after Eric Kennington, folding map at end) precedes the British and American trade issues of the same year, and the Doran copyright page reads "First printing in America, March, 1927" with the GHD lozenge to be confirmed on the title verso. The 1997 Castle Hill Press parallel-text sets and "complete 1922 Oxford text" sets are modern limited editions, not the 1922 printing.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Seven Pillars of Wisdom a first edition?

A first edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence (Privately printed for subscribers, London) is identified by: The 1926 Subscribers' edition (also called the Cranwell edition) was privately printed for subscribers in London in an edition of roughly 211 copies, of which about 170 were designated "complete." Complete copies carry Lawrence's manuscript inscription on p.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. Corrects the census claim.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

"First thus" traps dominate this title. Any 1935-or-later Cape or Doubleday, Doran printing sets an abridgement of the 1922 text and is routinely catalogued as "first trade edition" — accurate, but not the first edition of the work. Revolt in the Desert (Jonathan Cape, London, 1927; Doran, New York, 1927) is a separate Lawrence-made abridgement rather than an edition of Seven Pillars: a large-paper limited issue (reported variously as 300 or 315 copies; pigskin-backed buckram, colour plates afte

I have a first edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.