A Few Words About While we wait for A few words about...™ Lawrence of Arabia -- in 4k/UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Lawrie Raskin]

The astonishing amount of information made available here over the past month has prompted me to seek out further reading, beginning with a copy of the Pictorial History by Messrs Morris and Raskin. I was lucky enough to discover it gathering dust in the basement of my local library and have eagerly pored over every page, something I will have to do two or three more times before I have to return it. The sheer amount of effort that must have been put into researching and gathering material is breathtaking. I'm already on the lookout for a copy I can permanently add to my shelf.

Thanks for your kind words. FYI, at present there are 7 copies available at AbeBooks —
a quite reliable online used books dealer. They range in price from $9.95 to $75.00.
Note that 3 are hardcover and 4 are paperback. Good luck.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=morris+and+raskin&sts=t&tn=lawrence+of+arabia+30th+anniversary+pictorial+history

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls /t/308191/while-we-wait-for-a-few-words-about-lawrence-of-arabia-in-blu-ray/2160#post_3954095
Jason,
My posting of the photo of those two books was partially in response to a previous post where someone showed his original release lobby card. Actually first editions aren't really very costly: you just have to have luck. Penciled in the back of Revolt is the price of $4.50 I paid circa 1978 in a little used bookstore in Campbell, CA. After buying that I still kept looking for a nice hardbound copy of Seven Pillars. Years later, perhaps around 1992, I found a hardback copy of Seven Pillars in a used bookstore in San Jose, CA. The price of $9.99 is penciled inside still. I examined the book, noted the rather odd gold leaf swords on the front cover, and discovered the date of 1935 in it - a first edition, as publication was held up until after Lawrence's death on the motorcycle. I made my way to the checkout, paid my money, and got my receipt. I mentioned to the owner that I'd been looking for a copy of Seven Pillars for some time and was pleased to find a first edition. He said "no, that's no first edition. It's dated 1935". To which I responded with the publication history and why the first edition only came out after Lawrence's death. You should have seen the crestfallen look on his face. Most used booksellers are very saavy about the value of their merchendise.
The history of Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a long story all on its own. Lawrence wrote a complete draft which got mislaid on a railroad trip. He had to painstakingly re-create the entire draft from memory again - shades of Mozart and the overture to the Marriage of Figaro! A private edition of a few dozen copies was prepared, each copy being made by hand. Lawrence hired an artist to illustrate it but told him he'd have to wait for payment. Lawrence really didn't have the money to pay the debts from this private edition and IIUC he authorized the 1927 publication of Revolt mostly to raise funds to retire the debt from the Seven Pillars private edition. Upon his death, whith debts repaid, his brother Arnold took over the copyright and finally had Seven Pillars formally published.

The first, complete edition, was the 1922, published in a handful of copies for copyright purposes, ie. not for sale. Extremely valuable.

The first published edition, 1926, was around 211 copies, each bound differently. About 170 were complete, others, mostly gifted to military friends, who would be unable to pay the cost of the complete, came in at around 35 copies.

The 1926 Subscribers' editions are huge heavy books, with gorgeous illustrations, most in color, and all initialed by TES as complete or incomplete copies, I-XII-26.

Here's a link to the copy held by the Australian War Museum.

http://www.awm.gov.au/blog/2006/09/14/seven-pillars-of-wisdom/

And yes, I have a few editions tucked away myself.

It's not an easy read, but if one is to go for it, I highly suggest the 1922 uncut edition, which is available in varying printings, bindings, and sizes from Jeremy Wilson's Castle Hill Press. Here:

http://www.castlehillpress.com/

My copy of the 1922 (new edition late 1990s) is quarter bound goatskin. These can still be found at Abebooks. I believe I located mine on eBay a couple of years ago. Not inexpensive, but not horrifically priced, and absolutely worth the price of admission.

Castle Hill does a superb job.

This - http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7184711844&searchurl=sortby%3D0%26vci%3D3235044 - is a particularly interesting edition, as it compares side by side, as parallel texts, the 1922 vs. the 1926 editions. The 1935 general release editions are based upon the 1926, not the 22.

Let's complicate things a bit further. The 1935 edition, published in the UK by Jonathan Cape, and in the US by Doubleday, also had special editions, 750 each, containing a few of the original color images from the 1926.

And to complicate things even further. It appears that TEL / TES never did things for simplicity's sake. There is a US "subscriber's" edition, for copyright purposes, with several copies gifted, but without the special bindings, and less the images.

Simple?

RAH

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

The astonishing amount of information made available here over the past month has prompted me to seek out further reading, beginning with a copy of the Pictorial History by Messrs Morris and Raskin. I was lucky enough to discover it gathering dust in the basement of my local library and have eagerly pored over every page, something I will have to do two or three more times before I have to return it. The sheer amount of effort that must have been put into researching and gathering material is breathtaking. I'm already on the lookout for a copy I can permanently add to my shelf.

Thanks for your kind words. FYI, at present there are 7 copies of 'LOA:30APH' available at AbeBooks —
a quite reliable online used books dealer. They range in price from $9.95 to $75.00 (plus postage).
Note that 3 are hardcover and 4 are paperback. Good luck.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=morris+and+raskin&sts=t&tn=lawrence+of+arabia+30th+anniversary+pictorial+history

 

[AdrianTurner]

This is an interesting book - perhaps a little lightweight in terms of Lawrence biographies but it is written by Sir Anthony Nutting who was a British diplomat who had resigned over the Suez debacle. He was a known Arabist. Spiegel hired him as 'Oriental Counsellor' and sent him out to Jordan to meet with King Hussein and negotiate on Spiegel's behalf over locations and logistics. I interviewed Nutting for my book - we met at one of those leather bound gentlemans' clubs in St James - and I found him full of memories and stories. During the time he worked on the film he wrote this book, The Man and the Motive.

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

Eddie Fowlie on location.  Far more than a Property Master

Couldn't resist posting the delightful caption accompanying this photo, which appears on page 80 of our book.
Bear in mind that this is out in the Jordanian desert, over 300 miles from civilization... In Eddie's own words:

"My personal campsite, about twelve miles away from the unit,
was very close to where we were going to shoot the initial scenes.
So I thought, 'Well, I'll be ready to greet David first day of shooting.'
And so, near to my truck, just before you arrived at the site,
I put down some artificial grass, a square of it, a lawn. And I put down
some nice beach furniture, a table and chairs, and a nice umbrella over it,
and an English teapot with tea and tea service, and laid it all out there.
When David drove by, I invited him to stop and have English tea on the 'lawn.' "

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

Eddie Fowlie on location.  Far more than a Property Master

Couldn't resist posting the delightful caption accompanying this photo, which appears on page 80 of our book.
Bear in mind that this is out in the Jordanian desert, over 300 miles from civilization... In Eddie's own words:

"My personal campsite, about twelve miles away from the unit,
was very close to where we were going to shoot the initial scenes.
So I thought, 'Well, I'll be ready to greet David first day of shooting.'
And so, near to my truck, just before you arrived at the site,
I put down some artificial grass, a square of it, a lawn. And I put down
some nice beach furniture, a table and chairs, and a nice umbrella over it,
and an English teapot with tea and tea service, and laid it all out there.
When David drove by, I invited him to stop and have English tea on the 'lawn.' "

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

Eddie Fowlie on location.  Far more than a Property Master

Couldn't resist posting the delightful caption accompanying this photo, which appears on page 80 of our book.
Bear in mind that this is out in the Jordanian desert, over 300 miles from civilization... In Eddie's own words:

"My personal campsite, about twelve miles away from the unit,
was very close to where we were going to shoot the initial scenes.
So I thought, 'Well, I'll be ready to greet David first day of shooting.'
And so, near to my truck, just before you arrived at the site,
I put down some artificial grass, a square of it, a lawn. And I put down
some nice beach furniture, a table and chairs, and a nice umbrella over it,
and an English teapot with tea and tea service, and laid it all out there.
When David drove by, I invited him to stop and have English tea on the 'lawn.' "

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

Eddie Fowlie on location.  Far more than a Property Master

Couldn't resist posting the delightful caption accompanying this photo, which appears on page 80 of our book.
Bear in mind that this is out in the Jordanian desert, over 300 miles from civilization... In Eddie's own words:

"My personal campsite, about twelve miles away from the unit,
was very close to where we were going to shoot the initial scenes.
So I thought, 'Well, I'll be ready to greet David first day of shooting.'
And so, near to my truck, just before you arrived at the site,
I put down some artificial grass, a square of it, a lawn. And I put down
some nice beach furniture, a table and chairs, and a nice umbrella over it,
and an English teapot with tea and tea service, and laid it all out there.
When David drove by, I invited him to stop and have English tea on the 'lawn.' "

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

Eddie Fowlie on location.  Far more than a Property Master

Couldn't resist posting the delightful caption accompanying this photo, which appears on page 80 of our book.
Bear in mind that this is out in the Jordanian desert, over 300 miles from civilization... In Eddie's own words:

"My personal campsite, about twelve miles away from the unit,
was very close to where we were going to shoot the initial scenes.
So I thought, 'Well, I'll be ready to greet David first day of shooting.'
And so, near to my truck, just before you arrived at the site,
I put down some artificial grass, a square of it, a lawn. And I put down
some nice beach furniture, a table and chairs, and a nice umbrella over it,
and an English teapot with tea and tea service, and laid it all out there.
When David drove by, I invited him to stop and have English tea on the 'lawn.' "

 

[Lawrie Raskin]

Eddie Fowlie on location.  Far more than a Property Master

Couldn't resist posting the delightful caption accompanying this photo, which appears on page 80 of our book.
Bear in mind that this is out in the Jordanian desert, over 300 miles from civilization... In Eddie's own words:

"My personal campsite, about twelve miles away from the unit,
was very close to where we were going to shoot the initial scenes.
So I thought, 'Well, I'll be ready to greet David first day of shooting.'
And so, near to my truck, just before you arrived at the site,
I put down some artificial grass, a square of it, a lawn. And I put down
some nice beach furniture, a table and chairs, and a nice umbrella over it,
and an English teapot with tea and tea service, and laid it all out there.
When David drove by, I invited him to stop and have English tea on the 'lawn.' "

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Robert,
I had forgotten the super-limited printing of 8 (eight) copies. The "private edition" I discussed was the "subscriber edition" printed off in 1926. Even those are worth more than I can afford.
I grew up unimpressed by "sports jocks" but rather favoring intellectual adventurers. I read Lowell Thomas' book With Lawrence In Arabia, Richard Haliburton's Book of Marvels, and especially books by paeleontologist/adventurer Roy Chapman Andrews. I dreamed of digging up Triceratops eggs in the Gobi Desert with Andrews in the middle of the Chinese civil war, with guns flashing and bombs falling all around. IIUC Andrews was the major inspiration for the Indiana Jones character.

 

[dendodd]

For those who may be interested here is Michael Korda giving almost an hour talk about his book:
www.c-spanvideo.org/program/296932-1

 

[dendodd]

Further to my post #2187; I think I make the sound of Mr. Korda's talk sound too narrow. Although Mr. Korda was promoting his book, Mr. Korda's book is about Lawrence perforce his talk is about TE Lawrence the man and it is really quite fascinating.

 

[dendodd]

Further to my post #2186; I think I make the sound of Mr. Korda's talk sound too narrow. Although Mr. Korda was promoting his book, Mr. Korda's book is about Lawrence perforce his talk is about TE Lawrence the man and it is really quite fascinating.

I meant post #2187, sorry.

 

[Cees Alons]

Hello Jennifer,

You can edit your own post for some time after its first posting. Use the button with the pencil-icon that's directly below it to the left.




Cees

 

[Reed Grele]

One corner of my HT/Office:

 

[Doctorossi]

Dust Buster to handle stray sand, I take it.

 

[sharkshark]

Hopefully not betraying confidence here, but the fact that I just had a thrilling, unsolicited conversation with Mr. Raskin by phone for some 90 minutes makes the fruits of this thread even more succulent (wait, that sounds weird...)
Mild drama from some posters aside, this is quite frankly the most delightful conversation about a film I think I've ever been party to - thank you yet again to those that have made this the home for discussions about this astonishing work that we all hold so very dear.

 

[sharkshark]

Dust Buster to handle stray sand, I take it.

That joke both sucks and blows.

 

[sharkshark]

Which is precisely how I read your comments, and saw no problem.

I was most amused that I couldn't, at first, see how the could be misread. And then I did. And then I thought, hrm, if you read me that way, I look like a douche. But why would you read me that way, unless predisposed to think the worst? Then I remembered, this is the Internet.
This damn language - it's why we're forced, alas, to use these silly emoticons. That, or, you know, be able to write well, something I seem incapable of doing with any regularity.