The Mint (book) - Self-censorship

Self-censorship

Lawrence stated that the book should not be published until after his death; in the prefatory note by his brother, A. W. Lawrence, who edited the text for publication, a letter from T. E. Lawrence to E. M. Forster is summarized "he felt unable to publish the book because of 'the horror the fellows with me in the force would feel at my giving them away... so The Mint shall not be circulated before 1950". Lawrence's brother took the further precaution of substituting "new names" in the expurgated edition for characters in A/c Ross's squad "in all passages which might have caused embarrassment or distress".

However, A. W. Lawrence notes that his brother had

"intended, in fact, to print a limited edition himself on a hand-press, and had already obtained enough copies for its frontispiece of a reproduction .. of a portrait drawing by Augustus John, now in the Ashmolean Museum."

Lawrence himself wrote "I shall bequeath you my notes on life in the recruits camp of the R.A.F. They will disappoint you."