# Is "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T. E. Lawrence a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence (Privately printed for subscribers, London, 1926) 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. Corrects the census claim.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Privately printed for subscribers, London

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | T. E. Lawrence |
| Publisher | Privately printed for subscribers, London |
| Year | 1926 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The 1926 Subscribers' edition (also called the Cranwell edition) was privately printed for subscribers in London in an edition of roughly… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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. For the 1935 Jonathan Cape issues: the hand-numbered limited issue of 750 copies is in quarter pigskin with a gilt crossed-scimitar motif and the legend "The sword also means clean-ness + death" to the front board, top edge gilt and others untrimmed; the general trade issue of the same year is in brown buckram with a priced jacket.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Seven Pillars of Wisdom* by T. E. Lawrence a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/seven-pillars-of-wisdom
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.