Crusader Castles (Two Volumes Complete)
Hardcover, London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1936. First Edition; First Printing. Near Fine. Bound in pubisher's half-morocco with cream paper covered boards, top page edges gilded. Limited to 1,000 copies - this is number 232. With maps, photographs, and illustrations. Two large folding maps, one of Palestine and one of Syria, laid into the rear of Volume 1. Covers slightly soiled. Volume 1 is Lawrence's thesis itself complete with photos and illustrations, Volume 2 consists of the letters Lawrence wrote during his journeys and includes photographs and drawings. Previous owner bookplate on front pastedown of volume one. Previous owner was a University of Texas professor, Lawrence completist, and rare book collector. In 1910 Lawrence was a student at Jesus College, Oxford and took the Final Examination for History. As an additional part of the examination, students were allowed to submit a thesis. Lawrence submitted a thesis titled "The Influence of the Crusades on European Military Architecture to the End of the Twelfth Century." Lawrence was not a slacker. He prepared for his thesis over a number of years by visiting every castle he possibly could, bicycling all over England and Wales before traversing Normandy and the North of France in 1906 and 1907. In 1908 he bicycled from Havre through the East of France to the Mediterranean and then back to Western France. He travelled by foot through Palestine and Syria in 1909 using a special pass Lord Curzon obtained for him from the Ottoman Empire. Lawrence visited nearly every single castle in all of those areas taking photos, drawing sketches, and making extensive notes. He of course passed his examinations, earning the coveted First. One of his examiners wanted Oxford University Press to publish the thesis as a book, but all of the illustrations made that cost prohibitive. Lawrence continued to edit his thesis for years afterwards renaming it Crusader Castles, and it was published after his death by Golden Cockerel Press in 1936 in this edition. Lawrence's 1909 trip to Palestine and Syria was his first personal exposure to the Arab world and was to give him the foundation in Arab language and culture he later used so such great effect in WWI. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall. [Item #82558]
Price: $1,500.00