T. E. LAWRENCE. An autograph letter to Miss Fetherstonehaugh...

Hammer

£4,000

T. E. LAWRENCE. An autograph letter to Miss Fetherstonehaugh, 1928. T. E. Lawrence. An intimate autograph letter to Miss Fetherstonehaugh, 4pp., folded, in original envelope, dated 'II.XII.28' and written from R.A.F. Miranshah Fort, Waziristan, India:

'Dear Miss Fetherstonehaugh, It was nice to think of Dorset again, as I read your letter. Miranshah is the Clouds' Hill only in that we burn wood for fuel. Otherwise it is a tiny brick fort, all ringed with barbded wire, in which 25 R.A.F. and 700 India troops live very shut up and peacefil lives. They will not let us go beyond the barbded wire and the aerodrome: so when I want fresh air, I take it in the air, literally! We are 3000 feet up, and it is cold. The mountains all about us are snow-dressed for their top 4000 feet. in the hollow, with us, there is no snow and very little frost: but it is cold enough to make an excuse for wood fires: and they are very luxurious. Afghanistan is only ten miles away. The newspapers in England seem to have had a burst of curiosity about me lately, and to have put me in all sorts of queer places. Only they haven't said Miranshah. Yet Miranshah is quite a queer place. I hope to come home in 1930. The delay is for a film about me to be produced and forgotten: and the film-magnate who proposed to do it is short of money. I hope so, for perhaps he'll give it up: and that will be a great relief to me. I'm glad you see Mrs Hardy. She must have felt very unrooted when T. H. went: almost worse than you are Oakers Wood, for T.H. must have been a great experience, as a house-mate: and the shadow of his reputation will be very heavy on her while she lives. Her first volume on T.H., is, I see, out: I've read bits of it. If you see her, will you say that I was delighted with the way they ran? It struck me, as once before, that it was as good as another book by the old man. I do wish people didn't die. He was worth going round the world just to see for a few minutes: and now it's all over. A stupid little letter this: but I'd defy Samuel Pepys to fill a diary at Miranshah. It's like being in cold storage. My regards to B and the Morris! Yours, T. E.Shaw'

Millicent Lilian Teresa Fetherstonehaugh (1894-1971) was T. E. Lawrence's cousin and a friend of Thomas and Emma Hardy. *Condition Report Envelope with small tears. **BP 22.5% (inc. VAT) + a lot fee of £8 (inc. VAT) on each lot. VAT is not applicable on books and unframed maps.