Seven Fleece Press books on T. E. Lawrence have been published since 1985. For bibliophiles, his interest in fine printing, and the story of the making of his magnum opus, Seven Pillars of Wisdom are fascinating. Preceding the publication of Seven Pillars in Britain in 1926, when he hired a private printer to make his book, Lawrence felt the urgent need to avoid the book being pirated in the USA. He therefore arranged to have the text printed there in an edition of 22 copies in order to establish copyright protection.

Two books were sent to the Library of Congress to establish publication, and copies were nominally offered for sale on the publisher’s list – but to deter purchase however, they were priced at $20,000 each. In fact 28 copies were made – none of them sold – and this book tells the complex, quite intriguing story of the publication, while also tracing the history of each copy.

This is an impressive, well-written and beautifully researched book by Charles Eilers. His work is complemented by 42 illustrations, of books, typography, manuscripts, and the people involved, across the 156 pages.

Published in June 2018, A Shy Bird is produced in 255 standard copies (225 for sale) bound in half imitation vellum and paper over boards, in acknowledgment of the original style of binding issued on some copies in the USA.

The price is £152, postage £6.

A small number of special copies, which are housed in a drop-back box, included an original leaf from the second-state prospectus (1925) for the London Seven Pillars of 1926, out of print.