By an unknown photographer, c. 1922

Vintage print

E. T. Leeds (1877-1955) met Lawrence soon after joining the staff of the Ashmolean Museum as Assistant Keeper in March 1908. He shared Lawrence’s interest in medieval archaeology, and the two quickly became friends. Leeds and C. F. Bell introduced Lawrence to D. G. Hogarth at the beginning of 1909, when Hogarth came to the Ashmolean as Keeper. When Lawrence worked at the British Museum’s Carchemish excavations in Syria between 1911 and 1914 he wrote regularly to Leeds, sending news for Hogarth about progress on the dig and details about antiquities he had purchased for the Ashmolean. As a result Lawrence wrote more letters to Leeds than to anyone else outside his own family during the pre-war years. The correspondence, which is often very light-hearted , is one of the most important biographical sources for the years 1911-14.

Lawrence kept in touch with Leeds after the war, and was delighted when he succeeded D. G. Hogarth as Keeper of the Ashmolean in 1928.

Oval, 13.7 x 9.5

Provenance: By descent