T. E. Lawrence | Autograph letter signed, to Major Leonard Handley, 22 July 1929

Property of a Distinguished Collector

T.E. Lawrence

Autograph letter signed ("TE Shaw"), to Major Leonard Handley

advising him that driving would be the best means to reach Akaba during a proposed tour of Arabia ("...I fancy nobody camels now, much..."), but warning that "I talk through my hat, being ten years out-of-touch", suggesting he contact Peake Pasha ("...runs police or military in T[rans]-J[ordan]. With me for a year in the War: very decent...") and with other general advice about the cold in April and the beauties of Jordan, 2 pages, 4to, RAF Cattewater, Plymouth, 22 July 1929

TRAVEL ADVICE FROM LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Major Handley was a big-game hunter, chiefly in India, whose memoir, Hunter's Moon, appeared in 1933. Lawrence's recommended contact, Frederick Peake, ran the Egyptian Camel Corps during the Arab Revolt. Their skill in blowing up railway lines led them to be dubbed "The Peake Demolition Co. Ltd". He had set up the nucleus of the Arab Legion in the early 1920s and by 1929 was a Major General in the Transjordan army. 

PROVENANCE:

Phillips, 11 June 1999, lot 263