T. E. Lawrence Correspondence – Page 112

To Jsa. A.l. Brown, The Square, Portwilliam, Galloway. /H 9/13/4.2 -2- In fact I disliked it very much, as an effort . . . and as a publication came to an end. Several collectors of books have written to me suggesting that I should sign their copy . . . but they are unlucky. You had better grounds for the proposal than they had, but you share their experience. Hard cheese, as the politer form of german says, for public consumption. There, that hasn't taken an hour to put out more or less smoothly on paper. Don't be shocked by the paper. The Indian Government supply it to its servants. One of its advantages in this climate is that after two hot seasons it fades away into a yellow, flaky, and very brittle dust. Such an economy in storage of old files. All you need is a dustpan and broom, after that time. I've tried, since writing the above, to clean up the book a bit, with petrol and rubber, and have made it quite decent: - compared with its recent past. You will not think very much of the decency, though. Your very T.E. Shaw