[Literature] [Lawrence, T.E.] Shaw, T.E. Autograph Letter, signed

Royal Air Force, Mount Batten Station, Plymouth, October 22, 1932. Two sheets, 9 x 7 in. (229 x 178 mm). Two-page autograph letter on rectos only, signed by Thomas Edward Lawrence ("T.E. Shaw"), to Sir Montague Shearman, thanking him for attempting to acquire international visas for him. In full: "Dear Shearman It is good of you to have taken that trouble. Who would be an Ambassador, now a days? It is rather pathetic to remember that they were once decisive and influential men. I don't think the Wolff Agency's dementi would weigh very heavily with uninterested persons. Nor have I yet ever denied or confirmed any report, true or false, published about me. It seems rather a pity to begin. Please don't think me captious, I quite see that nothing can be done: but it remains rather sad from my private point of view that my character should be such as to make France, Germany, Russia, Persia, Turkey, India and Egypt refuse me entrance. I do not know about Italy and the States; they might not be afraid. But the places--Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, the Nile Valley--where my archeological interests lay, now all ban me, and foreign travel (had I the money for it) would be impossible. It is fair warning to anyone like myself not to exceed the normal achievement, if he values his integrity. It will make you smile to hear that I have lately been reading the D.H. Lawrence letters, and have seen that D.H. in trouble appealed to you. You must be tired of trying to hold the hands of eccentrics suffering for their sins. Please thank Vansittart for his effort to help me, if you see him: and accept the same inadequate phrase for yourself." Creasing from old folds, scattered foxing.

An interesting autograph letter by British Army officer, diplomat, writer and archaeologist, T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935) to English judge Sir Montague Shearman (1857-1930) expressing his frustration over his inability to gain foreign visas.

After the end of World War I, and his famous army service during the Arab Revolt, T.E. Lawrence worked for a few years in the British Foreign Office, at one point acting as an advisor to Winston Churchill. In 1922, he attempted to enlist in the Royal Air Force, due to his admiration for the effective use of aircraft seen during the war. He used a false name and documentation, but his identity was quickly exposed, which caused authorities to force him out. Around this time he decided to change his name to T.E. Shaw to distance himself from his fame, and he was later readmitted to the RAF in 1925. He remained in the service until 1935, spending most of his time at the Mount Batten base testing motor boats.

During the summer of 1932, rumors circulated in the press that Lawrence had been operating in an espionage role for the British government. The Secretary of the Political Department at the British India Office was quoted in a sensationalist article, suggesting that "During the last few years his wraith has appeared in Kurdistan, Southern Persia, Afghanistan...almost everywhere where there was trouble which could be attributed to the Machiavellian designs of the imperialistic British Government..." (Wilson, Lawrence of Arabia, p. 894) It is possible that it was due to these rumors that Lawrence was denied travel visas in the many countries listed in the above letter.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.