Books

2 volumes. One of 1000 numbered copies. Title pages printed in red, illustrated throughout with drawings and photographs, many full page, folding maps housed in a protective envelope at rear. 4to, original three-quarter terra cotta-orange crushed morocco over light tan cloth by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, lettered in gilt on the spines, t.e.g. [70], 62 pp. A very fine set, bright, clean and especially well preserved, the bindings and text-blocks, illustrations and maps all in very pleasing condition, the tan cloth is unusually clean and with very little evidence of age. The spines are still rich in colour and without fading. A superior set. FIRST EDITION OF THIS IMPORTANT TEXT ON THE CRUSADER CASTLES AND THEIR IMPORTANCE BOTH STRATEGICALLY IN THE HISTORY OF MILITARY ARCHITECTURE. Lawrence wrote the volumes while still a student at Oxford. The work, submitted as his thesis earned him first-class honours. Volume I contains The Thesis, Volume II, The Letters. One of the scarcer Lawrence items, it remains important to this day because of the author's seminal views on the subject at hand. This recounts his tour by foot through the Arab and Near Eastern routes of the Crusaders and his architectural studies especially which caused an entirely new understanding of the history and architectural sources of the castles built over a number of centuries.