A RARE autobiography has been handed to the owners of a York bookshop – and is set to cost the buyer a small fortune.

T.E. Lawrence’s 1926 first edition of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is on sale through Ken Spelman Rare Books, of Micklegate.

The rare book store was handed the leather-bound literature about Lawrence of Arabia’s life from the family of the Scottish novelist and poet, Naomi Mitchison.

Priced at £50,000, the book will be sold in the coming weeks at the London International Antiquarian Book Fair, at the Olympia exhibition centre, in West Kensington.

Tony Fothergill, owner of the shop and chairman of the book fair, said: “It was very exciting when we heard this was coming in to us. It’s a nice book.

“Naomi Mitchison is long dead but it was in the family’s possession and they’ve made a decision they want to sell it.”

The book is one of only 170 copies and tells the story of Lawrence of Arabia’s time serving as a liaison officer with rebel forces in the Arab Revolt from 1916 to 1918.

Lawrence was a key figure during the campaign, which looked to secure independence from the Ottoman Turks.

This is not the first time the shop has been asked to take on the sale of a prized possessions.

They were in charge of selling two of the first English Atlases from the 17th Century, and sold them for £75,000.

Other items now found in the shop include the ultra rare first edition of Robert Burn’s Poems, a 17th century treatise on alchemy, and an 18th century work owned by Louis XVIII’s architect.