![[LAWRENCE, T.E.]. Seven letters and one telegram to T.E. Lawrence from his family (two by his father, four by his mother and one by his brother Arnold), March and May 1916 to 5 March 1935. Together 24 pages, 4to and 8vo, on various paper stocks.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2004/NYR/2004_NYR_01348_0061_000(073440).jpg?w=1)
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[LAWRENCE, T.E.]. Seven letters and one telegram to T.E. Lawrence from his family (two by his father, four by his mother and one by his brother Arnold), March and May 1916 to 5 March 1935. Together 24 pages, 4to and 8vo, on various paper stocks.
"HOW I WISH THIS WAR WOULD END & THAT WE MIGHT MEET AGAIN"
A very fine group of letters, the first two from his father, written during Lawrence's service in the Intelligence Service for the Arab campaign in Egypt, the later letters from his mother dating from Lawrence's final year. Lawrence's letter from his father on 8 March 1916 discusses securities which he is leaving his son: "As the income of yr Securities amount to about £270 per annum I shld think there wld be no difficulty with most Banks in opening an acct." He details the necessary steps to transfer funds. "Arnie's securities will be under Trustee-ship of Mother & Bob till he reaches 25 years--I would have added yr name only as I doubt your ever settling in England it might be troublesome for business... There is a condition I must put before you strongly... that if our Will shld prove to be alive, that you & Bob & Arnie shld each return me what I wld ask you for of yr capital, so that Will may have the same Capital as you others."
Lawrence is informed by his father of the death of his brother: "We have at length received such news which I am sorry to say leave to us no doubt of Will's death... Poor Will, as you know, left everything he had to you and made you sole executor... I gather from a letter of yrs that you do not intend to benefit personally from his Will but nevertheless you will have to prove it when the Court gives you Probate... How I wish this war wld end & that we might meet again." Just two years later, a telegram is sent to Lawrence stating that "Father has pneumonia Come if Possible," and his brother Arnie sends a letter detailing how their father had come down with influenza and died the morning of 7 April 1919.
His mother's letters are written from China in 1935 and describe how "the situation has cleared up a lot... troops came up from down river & the Reds have now been driven back..." She sends birthday wishes on 17 August [1934?], asking "Have you seen G.B.S. [George Bernard Shaw] & Mrs. Shaw since they got back...?" One letter asks about his plans in the Royal Air Force: "I think you are very wise to go about & see places & take a real rest--dear Ned after all the hard work you have had these many many years... I wonder if you have really left the A.F. now. I quite expect to hear that they have asked you to stay on for a time till these boats have all been finished..."
Lawrence's father was born Thomas Robert Chapman (he later assumed the name of Lawrence). He was the younger son of an Anglo-Irish landowning family. He received classical schooling, followed by several years of continental travel and mountaineering, living on a private means that permitted him comfort though not luxury. From his father, T.E. Lawrence inherited his love of motorcycles. His mother, Sarah Madan, was the daughter of a Sunderland engineer. Both were devout, evangelical members of the Church of England. Lawrence was the second of five sons. (8)
"HOW I WISH THIS WAR WOULD END & THAT WE MIGHT MEET AGAIN"
A very fine group of letters, the first two from his father, written during Lawrence's service in the Intelligence Service for the Arab campaign in Egypt, the later letters from his mother dating from Lawrence's final year. Lawrence's letter from his father on 8 March 1916 discusses securities which he is leaving his son: "As the income of yr Securities amount to about £270 per annum I shld think there wld be no difficulty with most Banks in opening an acct." He details the necessary steps to transfer funds. "Arnie's securities will be under Trustee-ship of Mother & Bob till he reaches 25 years--I would have added yr name only as I doubt your ever settling in England it might be troublesome for business... There is a condition I must put before you strongly... that if our Will shld prove to be alive, that you & Bob & Arnie shld each return me what I wld ask you for of yr capital, so that Will may have the same Capital as you others."
Lawrence is informed by his father of the death of his brother: "We have at length received such news which I am sorry to say leave to us no doubt of Will's death... Poor Will, as you know, left everything he had to you and made you sole executor... I gather from a letter of yrs that you do not intend to benefit personally from his Will but nevertheless you will have to prove it when the Court gives you Probate... How I wish this war wld end & that we might meet again." Just two years later, a telegram is sent to Lawrence stating that "Father has pneumonia Come if Possible," and his brother Arnie sends a letter detailing how their father had come down with influenza and died the morning of 7 April 1919.
His mother's letters are written from China in 1935 and describe how "the situation has cleared up a lot... troops came up from down river & the Reds have now been driven back..." She sends birthday wishes on 17 August [1934?], asking "Have you seen G.B.S. [George Bernard Shaw] & Mrs. Shaw since they got back...?" One letter asks about his plans in the Royal Air Force: "I think you are very wise to go about & see places & take a real rest--dear Ned after all the hard work you have had these many many years... I wonder if you have really left the A.F. now. I quite expect to hear that they have asked you to stay on for a time till these boats have all been finished..."
Lawrence's father was born Thomas Robert Chapman (he later assumed the name of Lawrence). He was the younger son of an Anglo-Irish landowning family. He received classical schooling, followed by several years of continental travel and mountaineering, living on a private means that permitted him comfort though not luxury. From his father, T.E. Lawrence inherited his love of motorcycles. His mother, Sarah Madan, was the daughter of a Sunderland engineer. Both were devout, evangelical members of the Church of England. Lawrence was the second of five sons. (8)