Category: T. E. Lawrence

 Henry Williamson’s connection with T.E. Lawrence first came about when in 1928 TE wrote a long letter to Edward Garnett, the well connected publisher’s reader, about Tarka the Otter, this including a near line by line critical analysis. This letter followed on from Garnett having sent TE a proof copy of the book out to Karachi, where he was at that time posted by the RAF. Now Garnett, wasting no time, sent this long letter on to Williamson, who had fortunately been impressed reading Revolt in the Desert, which had been serialised in The Daily Telegraph, and so the connection began. These notes on Tarka, as contained within the letter were to be largely incorporated into a later edition of Tarka. The letter was published for the first time by the Golden Cockerel Press in the edition of Men in Print, in July of 1940.

The newly formed connection was mainly maintained by correspondence, in fact the two men only appear to have actually met on a couple of occasions. The “friendship” if such it was, proved in fact of a relatively short duration, some seven years, indeed TE probably had some reservations about Williamson, possibly in particular his extra-marital affairs!

It was of course on a motorcycle ride on the 13th May 1935, returning from the Post Office at Bovington where TE had sent a Telegram, handed in at 11.25, to Williamson, Lunch Tuesday wet fine cottage one mile North Bovington camp Shaw, that he had the accident from which he was to die some six days later. The purpose of the meeting, never to be, were wholly literary and probably surrounding the writings of the recently deceased V. M. Yeates. There was no political motivation behind the meeting, despite unfounded speculation and rumour circulated later. Indeed this was created by Williamson and he possibly began to believe his own tales.

It was following TE’s death that Williamson commenced writing his own memoir in 1936 using quotations from the letters TE had written to him. At this period A.W. Lawrence was to heavily edit Williamson’s contribution to “Friends“, the collection of essays about TE by those who had known him, published in 1937. However Williamson planned for a longer version aimed at Atlantic Monthly of his memoir. A.W. Lawrence always appears to have reservations about Williamson’s text and indeed imposed a five year embargo on quotes from his brothers’ letters which postponed any such publication. This no doubt brought about to some extent by David Garnett’s (son of Edward) splendid collection The Letters of T.E. Lawrence published by Jonathan Cape in 1938. By 1940 however Williamson now pressed ahead and the Golden Cockerel Press. owned at this time by Christopher Sandford, Owen Rutter and Francis J. Newbery took an interest in it. They had some success in recent years with TE related volumes such as Crusader Castles 1936, Secret Despatches 1939 and Men in Print 1940. These were uniform volumes bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe and sold well, so they we keen to develop the series. The proposal appears to have been that the Williamson volume would be in this format, matching the other publications.

By 1940 it appears that A.W. Lawrence had relented on the quotes following the five year hiatus, although Williamson could not find the relevant letter and there remained concerns regarding permissions that may have needed clearance from Raymond Savage, the literary agent. These concerns are related by Williamson in a postcard to Owen Rutter dated 1 Dec 1940.

Discussion with A.W. Lawrence obtained the necessary permissions, although he retained reservations about the text (as surviving letters to Owen Rutter indicate), and was as always cautious about controlling copyright. Christopher Sandford too had some concerns about the planning of the publication, which he expressed to his partners in a note. His suggestion was for a 2 guinea production in the style of Crusader Castles.

Eventually in April of 1941 it was all agreed to press ahead and publish and in a format matching the recent Lawrence series of GCP volumes. The Press had very recently published the Men in Print volume in July of 1940. In April of 1941 Owen Rutter wrote to A.W. Lawrence with the news.

But the story does not end here, or happily for the Golden Cockerel Press, writing to A.W. Lawrence on the 6th May, here is a file copy letter from the Press, which explains that after months of negotiation Williamson declined to let the Golden Cockerel Press publish his memoir of TE as he wanted more of an advance payment which the Press could not afford. One can sense the frustration and possible disappointment in the brief note and the continuing concerns regarding copyright with another publisher becoming involved. In the event the Golden Cockerel Press consoled itself with a different letters volume in the series, Shaw-Ede. T.E. Lawrence’s Letters to H.S. Ede, published September 1942, which in the event proved to have its own difficulties meaning that a correction slip had to be issued.

However, Williamson obviously seems to have gone for the money and was now eager to have his memoir published. So all appears to have been speedily agreed and a contract with Faber was signed by 20 August 1941. Genius of Friendship was published by Faber in November of 1941. It was to be a less glamorous edition than the Golden Cockerel Press would have produced, if more accessible for the general reader priced at just 10/6d. The edition has 80 pages, only 70 pages of actual text. The pages are untrimmed, which is unusual in a commercial book at this time. It is in a pale blue dust wrapper with classic Faber typographical design. But time has not been kind to it. as it does tend to fox and fade.

To conclude our TE/ Williamson connection, here is a tantalizing little puzzle, a proof copy from the library of Henry Williamson of the only and exceedingly scarce biographical novel by Myfanwy (Ann) Thomas, daughter of poet Edward Thomas, writing under the pseudonym of Julia Hart Lyon which provides a fictionalised account of her long affair with Williamson. Entitled Women must love it was published by Faber in 1937. Many of the events of the novel reflect what is known about their affair, from the early days as his secretary to the birth of a child. This proof copy being corrected by Williamson steering the narrative to be more sympathetic to the male character. Pasted in the proof, presumably by Williamson, a photograph of TE and underneath the words “ill-fated”. Why I wonder?

Tales of Charles Doughty and Arabia Deserta

Charles Montagu Doughty (1843-1927) was traveller, writer and poet extraordinaire. In a twenty-one month trek he became one of the greatest of Arabian travellers, as is recalled in his published record of the arduous journey that he undertook. It was on the 18th of November 1876 that he began his adventurous and perilous exploration of Arabia, that was eventually to lead to the two stately and challenging volumes some ten years later.

As we will observe the publication of this, one of the greatest travel writings was to be almost as trying as the journey that it describes. After his leaving of Arabia in 1878 it would take ten long years for the finished volumes to finally appear. This was only following some pressure from academics to be undertaken by the Cambridge University Press in an edition of only 500 copies, at the high price (for 1888) of 3 guineas.

The volumes can be a challenging read, being in Doughty’s distinctive and idiocentric style, part archaic, part linguistic. The passage to publication was to be a fraught one. In 1883 he presented a paper through Dr. T.G. Bonney to the Royal Geographical Society and the matter was then published in mere abstract form in the Society’s Proceedings of 1884, under the title Travels in North-Western Arabia (pp.382-399) together with a sketch map.

The bulky manuscript of his wanderings and ensuing research was submitted to a number of London publishers. One such was Macmillan & Co. It appears that co-founder of the famous publishing company, Alexander Macmillan was not too impressed, writing on the 24th April 1884 to Trelawney Saunders, who was an East India Company cartographer he was to state; ‘Not once but many times have attempts been made to read Mr Doughty’s MS by ourselves as well as by one of the ablest men we know. Upon no theory of scholarship is the style tolerable.‘ Macmillan goes on in the same missive, to quote from a letter written by a Rev. Dr. Percy Badger, ( this is George Percy Badger 1815-1888, missionary and orientalist) who amongst other things stated that the MS should be re-written. We will return to Dr. Badger later. Macmillan added to this letter to Saunders; ‘I like Mr Doughty exceedingly and should have been glad to publish his book, if it had been publishable.’ Publishers may tend to be cautious men, but these are extreme views on a book that was later to find such high acclaim, a status that it enjoys and indeed is enhanced to this day. It here has to be stated that this is not an easy book to read and in manuscript form must have been daunting in the extreme.

Upon eventual publication it gave rise to mixed reviews. These provided a reasonable launch for the volumes, for instance, The Times and The Spectator gave good, respectful reviews both appreciating to some extent the writing style. It was however reviewed in The Academy of Saturday July 28^th by no less than explorer, writer and orientalist, Richard Francis Burton who provided overall a reasonable if grudging lengthy mention. Although commencing his piece with ‘Mega Vivlion Mega Kakon [Big Book, Big Evil] will I fear be the verdict of the general reader’, and ended it, ‘I cannot for the life of me, see how the honoured name of England can gain aught by the travel of an Englishman who at all times and in all places is compelled to stand the buffet from knaves that smell of sweat’. He was perhaps writing in character, rather resenting the fact that Doughty had apparently neglected to read his Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Mecca, published in 1855/6 before setting off on his journey. Burton went on, ‘admiring the while the author’s unworldly unwisdom‘.

It was though an expensive set to purchase and sales for the Cambridge University Press were slow. However despite or because of these reviews and various personal  mentions, the volumes eventually found a following, although Doughty was to make little from the publication, in fact quite the reverse. Over the years of all of the admirers none were greater than T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), a man needing no introduction to readers of our blogs. He describes the work as, ‘a bible of its kind…the more you learn of Arabia the more you find in Arabia Deserta. also ‘We call the book “Doughty” pure and simple, for it is a classic’. Original 1888 copies were by this time, the period of World War I, fetching very high prices. This being the case and wishing to see the work more available, Lawrence attempted to persuade publishers to reissue the two substantial volumes. He had already spoken, to no avail, to the Government Press in Cairo in 1916. D. G. Hogarth head of the Arab Bureau during WW1 had praised the volumes for their informative value. There was an abridgement by the literary reader and editor Edward Garnett, published by Duckworth in 1908, but they too declined to publish the two complete unabridged volumes because of costs involved. Finally in 1921 Lawrence assisted in enabling Jonathan Cape and the Medici Society to publish the two handsome volumes, again in an edition of 500 copies at a price of 9 guineas, but with a new Introduction by the now famous ‘Colonel’ T. E. Lawrence to aid initial sales. So ‘Introduced’, the volumes’ sales went well despite the price, Lawrence’s confidence in the work was amply justified. This was Jonathan Cape’s first publication and set a high standard for future work from this publisher, which exists, in name at least, to this day. The new 1921 edition retained at least a version of Doughty’s Preface to the first edition, alongside the new Introduction by T. E. Lawrence. In this, Lawrence is highly complimentary and he uses some extracts from his early text to his proposed ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’. This new, second edition was to sell well and finally establish the book in the pantheon amongst great travel literature. Lawrence was to withdraw his Introduction after the initial edition, only allowing its replacement at a later date.

However, we now return to Rev. Dr. Percy Badger who had suggested a re-write to Alexander Macmillan. In his Preface to the first edition, Doughty states that Badger has very kindly aided me, but he along with others is left out of the so called ‘first edition’ Preface reprinted in the Cape second edition, as well as the new enlarged Preface of that second edition. One wonders just why? In this new preface Doughty makes a point of thanking the academics who persuaded the Syndics of Cambridge University Press to invest in the 1888 edition.

Arabia Deserta remained in print with Cape for many years, a worthy tribute to the work and its sponsors. T. E. Lawrence had two copies of each edition as well as Doughty’s poetry volumes at his Clouds Hill library at the time of his death in 1935. The literary reader Edward Garnett, a great judge of merit in writers of all kinds, was to state, ‘Doughty needs no defenders’ in a letter dated October 31st 1935, in a response to Cyril Laken of the The Sunday Times regarding an article of Garnett’s that had been ‘mutilated ‘.

In his later life Doughty wrote and published a number of volumes of poetry. In a letter to T. E. Lawrence dated 6th November 1920, Doughty was to write, ‘When the printing and publishing of the Arabia Deserta volumes was completed, I found little interest was taken in such work at home, I felt therefore I had done therein what was in my power, and as the Arabs say, I might wash my hands of it: and could now turn to what I considered my true life’s work with the Muse’. The Muse in his poetry led him in a rather eccentric style, as might be expected, but again these found a following. The writer and great poet to be Edward Thomas reviewed Adam Cast Forth in 1908 and spoke of his unique power. T. E. Lawrence writing to Charlotte Shaw in 1927 was to write; ‘Adam cast Forth is splendid. Its goodness defies the lack of form which would have ruined a less great work, but otherwise I cannot see more than great effort and great failure in his poetic work’. So even he was ambivalent about the poetry, but in the same letter he was to state; ‘Arabia Deserta remains wonderful.’

These poetry volumes consisted of: The Dawn in Britain in six volumes (1906), Adam Cast Forth (1908), The Cliffs (1909), The Clouds (1912), The Titans (1916) and Mansoul; or, The Riddle of the World (1920) which he continued revising until the end of his life. These poems can be hard going, but they do have devoted followers, although by no means being an ‘easy’ read.

Doughty died on the 20th January 1926 and was cremated at Golders Green, amongst the mourners, one man in an R.A.F. uniform was present, it was T. E. Shaw (Lawrence of Arabia). Jonathan Cape suggested that
T. E. Lawrence write a biography of Doughty but he declined, later suggesting Siegfried Sassoon. In 1928 a biography was published written by Lawrence’s mentor, friend and admirer of Doughty, D. G. Hogarth, being seen through the press by his son, following Hogarth’s own death in 1927.

Doughty’s great work of Arabia Deserta will survive as a literary masterpiece alongside such as Ulysses, Moby Dick and perhaps indeed even Seven Pillars of Wisdom, (of this latter, the 1922 text of which was loaned to Doughty by Lawrence, he found hard to take, with its references to subjects difficult for him to comprehend). Doughty’s poetry may have a harder time in the modern world.

But if you wish to spend long hours of toil and pleasure experiencing life in nineteenth century Arabia, now long gone forever, with all of its sounds, hazards and smells, then Charles M. Doughty is your man and boon companion on the journey.

Further reading;

Doughty, Charles, M. Travels in North Western Arabia and Nejd, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, No. VII, July, 1884.pp.382-399 + map.

Doughty, Charles, M. Travels in Arabia Deserta, Cambridge University Press, 1888.

Doughty, Charles, M. Travels in Arabia Deserta, with a New Preface By the Author, Introduction By T.E. Lawrence, Philip Lee Warner Medici Society and Jonathan Cape, 1921.

Doughty, Charles, M. Hogarth’s Arabia, Privately Published, 1922.

Hogarth, D.G. The Life of Charles M. Doughty, Oxford University Press, 1928.

Taylor, Walt, Doughty’s English, S.P.E. Tract, No LI, Clarendon Press, 1939.

Davis, Herbert, Charles Doughty, 1843-1926, Wells College Press, 1943.

Tabachnik, Stephen, Ely (ed.) Explorations in Doughty’s Arabia Deserta, University of Georgia Press, 1987.

Taylor, Andrew, God’s Fugitive, The Life of C.M. Doughty, Harper Collins, 1999.

Lawrence. T.E. (Jeremy & Nicole Wilson eds), T.E. Lawrence, More Correspondence with Writers (includes Charles M. Doughty), Castle Hill Press, 2014.

We enjoy most forms of motor sport at Rickaro Books and indeed offer some small support for Fastline Superbikes of Preston who run Bobby Varey on a TZ 250cc Yamaha in Club 59 events at circuits around the country.

On this note our stock contains interesting published items from all periods and forms of the sport and we particularly appreciate signed or association items. So here is a small selection of what we consider fascinating, if sometimes unexpected, material relating to significant figures across the range and times of both two and four wheeled racing. They are not always listed on our sites so do contact us about any that may be of interest.

So we start with the earliest days and a presentation copy of a book by a pioneer racer, Charles Jarrott (1877-1944). He raced from 1900 to 1904, winning the 1902 Circuit des Ardennes race and competing in the 1903 and 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup races. This is a 1912 edition of his book, “Ten Years of Motors and Motor Racing”, first published in 1906. It is a presentation copy from the author to a colleague from the “Great War” and dated 1918.

The volume is an enthralling account of the early races and contains splendid photographs of the cars and characters of the period.

It is not just factual writings that some of the heroic figures of the sport produced, but some turn their hands to fiction. One such is Sir Malcolm Campbell (1885-1948). He was of course a racing driver of renown as well as being world speed record on land and water. His land and water vehicles were called “Bluebird” and the tradition was continued by his son Donald. But Sir Malcolm wrote novels for readers who were young at heart, “boys and old boys” and here is a rather interesting presentation copy of one, being his second novel. It has the striking and evocative Roland Davies dust-wrapper artwork.

Tazio Nuvolari (1892-1953): it was Dr Ferdinand Porsche who described Nuvolari as “the greatest driver of the past, the present or the future”. He was arguably the most courageous racer to have ever lived. Whilst it is always difficult to compare eras, it can be claimed that his accomplishments certainly rival that of Fangio, Senna and Schumacher, he is without question the greatest of his era. He was a man of many talents having raced motorcycles as well as cars from 1925 until 1930, when he concentrated on cars, and won the 1932 European Championship. He had a long career racing for Alfa Romeo in Enzo Ferrari’s team and going on to drive the fearsome rear-engined Auto Unions. Well recalled in England for his stirring victory at Donnington in 1938. A perhaps typical exploit was to take place during the 1948 Mille Miglia, Nuvolari’s final one. The bonnet flew off his race car at speed, narrowly missing his head. Nuvolari’s passenger was, understandably, alarmed but Nuvolari calmly stated it would better cool the engine, next however, Nuvolari’s seat came loose, throwing it out he was calmly to continue, until brake failure finally forced him to retire. He was indeed a striking figure in his yellow racing shirt with his TN monogram and tortoise lucky charm .In his later years he was to suffer ill health brought on by the fumes that he had inhaled over the years. Unlike many of his colleagues he was to die in his bed in 1953. He is buried near his home town of Mantua, in the family vault where an inscription reads: Correrai Ancor Più Veloce Per Le Vie Del Cielo ( You will race even faster along the roads of heaven), he requested to be buried in his racing outfit.

Stanley Woods (1903-1993) was an Irish motorcycle racer, who gained fame for riding in the TT races on the Isle of Man. He rode with greatest success with Norton and Moto Guzzi. What is perhaps not so well known is his connection with toffee! He signed this letterhead in 1990.

Whilst perhaps not directly involved with motor sport, T.E. Shaw (Lawrence of Arabia) had a great regard for speed, (“the greatest pleasure of my recent life has been speed on the road”) either on one of his beloved Brough Superior motorcycles, or on the water in Biscayne Baby speedboat “Biscuit” that he used whilst based at Mountbatten.

Here is a note to a fellow aircraftman about a part for the rev counter of the Biscayne Baby (BB) and asking him to either repair it or take this with the other parts to a Plymouth watch dealer S. Davies for repair. An interesting aside: might this be the watch repairer that TE would have taken his own “Omega” wrist chronograph for a service? Do the records of S. Davie exist? A fascinating survival of a small seemingly insignificant note.

New Zealand racing driver Bruce McLaren (1937-1970) was to drive for Cooper winning a number of Grand Prix before leaving in 1965 to found the still renowned eponymous F1 team McLaren. In 1966 he was to win Le Mans, driving a Ford GT40. The book “From the Cockpit” relates the story of his life. Laid in this particular copy is an original photograph of McLaren driving a number 6 Cooper, c.1962. signed in ink, “To Hilary, Bruce McLaren”, bearing photographer stamps to reverse for Patrick Benjafield (photographer for Autosport). “Hilary” is the wife of Alfred Ben Bigg. Also present are two passes for the British Grand Prix, 21 July 1962 and European Grand Prix, 11 July 1964. An interesting cache of 1960s GP items.

Mike Hailwood (1940-1981) the great “Mike the Bike” was a nine-time world champion, Hailwood won 76 Grand Prix races during his motorcycle racing career, including 14 Isle of Man TT victories and four consecutive 500 cc world championships. After his motorcycle racing career concluded, he went on to compete in Formula One and other classes of car racing, becoming one of the few men to compete at Grand Prix level in both motorcycle and car racing. In addition he was awarded the George Medal for bravery for rescuing Clay Regazonni from a blazing car. Other than that it was winning the 1978 Isle of Man TT after 11 years away from bike racing that Mike Hailwood had perhaps the greatest ever of his many achievements. Here is a nice copy of his book signed at that 1978 TT.

Another great driver who raced from the 1960s having some eight wins and 25 podium finishes in F1, going on to win Le Mans no less than six times is Jacky Ickx. Seen here in a signed photograph at one of his 1960s wins. Still active in the sport and sponsoring Choppard Mille Miglia wrist chronometers.

It is a truth that fine cars and fine watches or perhaps chronographs go together. Timekeeping has always been an integral part of motor sport since the earliest period. With this in mind we recommend two splendid volumes “Time to Race, Watches and Speed, Stories of men and machines” Parts I and II. These are written by Cesare Maria Mannucci and John Goldberger (Auro Montanari) and published by Nuova Esperia Imm s.r.l. They contain information on a host of racing drivers and the watches that they wore. These are heavy weight volumes in all senses, large format and packed with biographical information on the drivers and superb images of them and of the watches they are wearing. These are volumes that any motor sport fan or watch collector will find of great interest.

Time is now up on this particular blog! and the chequered flag falls.