1. [Commonwealth & Colonial History & Law] – Luke, Sir Harry [Lukach, Harry] – ‘the most unwasted life of any man I have known’ – (Sir Ronald Storrs on Sir Harry Luke)

Very Large Archive / Collection of British Colonial Official & Lieutenant-Governor of Malta, Sir Harry Luke. The Archive is Sir Harry Luke’s very personal and one might say, confidential collection of original autographed letters, correspondence and books he surrounded himself with at the end of his life. The Archive includes important and meaningful personal and official letters from important historical figures in the Arena of the Middle East and especially Palestine with for example interesting legal insights into the Jewish-Arab conflicts of the 1920s, as well as working-copies of books which Luke wrote himself at every location he was posted to during his career. In order to understand the vastness of the Archive you need to visit our website and see the nineteen (19) chapters of Material we synchronised chronologically with Sir Harry Luke’s life [Search for “Library & Collections” and find 19 chapters at the bottom of that page]. The Archive contains an unbelievable and impressive array of several highly interesting letters and correspondence regarding key historical events as disparate as the Mudros/Gallipoli-Campaign under Rosslyn Wemyss, the Jaffa Riots, the Western Wall Riots of Jerusalem in 1929 as well as information on diplomatic activity prior to the Suez Crisis, descriptions of locations like Guadalcanal prior to the War in the Pacific, detailed information on personell at Gardner Island / Phoenix Islands during the vanishing of Amelia Earhart, to only name a few bizarre coincidences. The books contain manuscript annotations and preparatory notes for later editions as well as many letters written to Luke regarding the many postings he served at during his long career in the Colonial Service. The Archive includes several hundred pages of correspondence between Luke and other officials within the Colonial Office, often in multi-page letters. Also included is proof of Luke’s connections to the Ecclesiastical World of the Vatican and Lambeth Palace, his diplomatic abilities are praised in letters from friends and officials alike. Luke received cordial letters from Queens (Queen Salote) as well as polarizing letters from Politicians. Included are manuscript notepads as well as confidential reports from other diplomats on locations where Luke was soon to be taking office, e.g. British Western Pacific Islands. The Archive is unique in its form because it represents not only the correspondence between Luke as an official but also allows us a view into the life of a Career Diplomat of the last days of the Colonial British Empire who develops a deep connection with everyone he served with and under. Luke did not only keep correspondence with famous friends like Ronald Storrs but also emotional letters from those who served under him and respectfully stay in touch beyond the termination of Luke’s service. Many letters to family colleagues in the Colonial Office, Politicians, Priests with political functions, are preserved with Luke’s original typescript-answer or initial letter. The official and often explosive and historically meaningful content with striking relevance for reinterpreting Mediterranean, Middle Eastern Conflicts etc. makes this archive a must for research and posterity. This is not just any diplomat’s archive. The majority of these letters are unpublished but are waiting to be discovered (see for example the long letter by Sir Kenneth Roberts-Wray on the Palestine Commission. Also included his Luke’s very valuable, handwritten manuscript-notebook of colonial postings-recipe-collections together with his working copy of the very special cookery book “The Tenth Muse”. The majority of the collection is now catalogued and visible on our website. A collection of c. 89 letters and 43 items of Ephemera has not been catalogued yet.

England / Palestine / Israel / Malta / Cyprus, Fiji / Sierra Leone etc., 1898 – 1968. Octavo / Quarto / Folio. c.15000 pages (books) / Collection of hundreds of Letters (see images) / Photographs and ephemera etc. Original Hardcover / Softover – Bindings (also private interim-bindings), often with the rare dustjackets in protective collector’s Mylar, some without dustjackets. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Please check our website under “Libraries & Collections” and see detailed listings of books and letters, all categorized.

2. [Education of Sir Harry Luke] – [Luke, Sir Harry] Lukach, Harry Charles / [Claude Delaval Cobham (British Colonial Official in Cyprus (Larnaca)] / [Guy le Strange (British Orientalist).

Manuscript letter by british colonial officer Claude Delaval Cobham to Harry Lukach, [later Sir Harry Luke] in which Cobham reflects on a manuscript Luke had sent him for analysis: “My dear Lukach, I return the Ms. I lent it to Guy le Strange who showed it to Ellis [possibly Sir Ellis Hovell Minns], of the B.M. [British Museum] [who are] both skilled analysts”. Cobham continues about the manuscript: “It is a kind of Hagiology, but written by a Druze – hence the [?] of the mad Khalife Hakim bin amr allah as a Saint, and spells Salih, which is a Druze Mack. There are similar Mss. in the B.M. library but Ellis [?] not a Druze one – but they are of no great interest or Value. The writing is neat and very legible….I hope you are well and enjoying yourself. I start, I think, on Thursday for Coblenz and S. Blasien [that is St. Blasien], returning at the very end of August. Yours very truly – C. Delaval Cobham”.

S. James, July 27 (no year but c.1906). Small Octavo. 2 pages filled on one bifolium / Plus Letter from British Museum to Harry Charles Lukach regarding Admission to the Reading Room (19th of July 1906). Excellent letter by British Colonial official in Cyprus, Claude Delaval Cobham. Important letter which states the early influence of Luke in his love for Cyprus because by the time this letter was written and Luke had a relationship with this important scholar, Cobham had already written the important “Excerpta Cypria”. The ALS by Cobham came with a letter by the Director of the British Museum to H.C.Lukach regarding admission to the Reading Room of the B.M.

3. [The Tenth Muse] – Luke, Harry Charles [Colonial Cookery Book Manuscript Notebook].

Manuscript Notebook, Working – copy and printed version of “The Tenth Muse: An unconventional cookery book of recipes from many lands”. [Including Sir Harry Luke’s Manuscript Notebook in which he collected on 96 pages and loosely inserted letters/notes some of his recipes when he was travelling. The notebook comes also with his personal working-copy of the printed book, with sources for recipes / letters / heavily annotated by Luke. The recipe-notebook, written in the 1930s, includes several pages with historical recipes of Food prepared in Cyprus, with special recipes of “Kyrenia Salad”, “Apricot Brandy (Cyprus)”, “Kyrenia Tomato Paste”, Kyrenia Salad”]. Collected and compiled, with an introductory chapter by Sir Harry Luke. With the collaboration of Elizabeth Godfrey.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Putnam, c.1930-1954. 22 cm x 14,5 cm. The Manuscript Notebook includes 96 pages with letters, notes and sclippings included / The working copy with letters and clippings and annotations: 240 pages. Original Hardcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. With annotations and markings by Harry Luke.

4. [Private Materials Sir Harry Luke] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry].

Collection with an abundance (more than 30 items) of PERSONAL ephemera of Sir Harry Luke. Calling cards with recommendations, Luke’s passport photograph (with Negative), Seat Reservation Card for Sir Harry on a British Overseas Airways Flight (BOAC) / BEA (British European Airways) / etc. etc. etc.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London a.o., Octavo. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

5. [Private Materials Sir Harry Luke] – [Luke, Harry Sir/ Lukach, Harry].

‘Correspondence regarding the burial of my dear mother Eugenie Luke, who died during the War in 1941, while I was in the Pacific and her subsequent Exhumation and Cremation in Paris’.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London / Paris, 1956. Octavo. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

6. [Miscellaneous Sir Harry Luke] – [Luke, Harry Charles] Ceram, C. W.

Gods, Graves, And Scholars: The Story of Archaeology. Translated From The German By E. B. Garside.

First Edition, Ninth impression. [This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1954. 22,5 cm x 15,5 cm. XII, 433 pages, 32 plates. Original Hardcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. With a gift inscription on front free endpaper from Sir Harry Charles Luke, to his grandson and later heir, Harry Luke, son of Peter Luke. Faded spine and boards. Otherwise in good condition.

7. [Family History Sir Harry Luke / Zander] – [Luke, Sir Harry / Lukach, Harry] Motherby, Helene / The Society of Genealogists / Aristocratic Research of Family de Zander / Family History Zandrowitsch – Zander/.

Collection of manuscript and printed materials regarding a genealogical research for the aristocratic Family ‘Zandrowitsch – Zander’. Sir Harry Luke who was related to the Zander family was assisted by a lady from Koenigsberg in Prussia. The lady in question,Genealogist Helene Motherby from Koenigsberg, writes in a letter from April 6th, 1910 to Luke’s posting in Sierra Leone and has some excellent news regarding her research of the Zander family. The letter includes a manuscript family tree of the Zander family (Carl Lazarus von Zander etc.) / In a second letter from 23rd of October1911, Helene Motherby requested information from a Heraldic Office in St.Petersburg. The original answer was written in Russian and a translation into german is accompanying the original document in which Helene Motherby was informed that information regarding an aristocratic family can only be granted if the requestor can proof his/her aristocratic ancestry connected to the family in question. The request was in detail answered by pointing to the relevant Genealogical Offices in Livland / Estland / Gouvernement Kiew. / Helene Motherby apologizes for the ‘meager’ result and urges Sir Harry Luke to become a member of ‘The Society of Genealogists’ in London. She encloses the first quarterly report of ‘The Society of Genealogists of London’ which also lists the members (among them Fraulein Helene Motherby) and also includes two prefilled application forms for Sir Harry that would allow him to join the Society (Helene Motherby has signed both papers as a guarantor). /

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Koenigsberg, 1910 / 1911. Octavo. 4 manuscript documents (incl. Manuscript postcard from Motherby to Luke and a manuscript family tree of the Zander family) / 2 signed applications for the ‘Society of Genealogists London’ / Ephemera Statutes of the Society of Genealogists of London / Original envelope. From the private collection / library of colonial governor, diplomat and historian, Sir Harry Luke.

8. [Autobiography Cities and Men] – Luke, Harry Charles.

[Manuscript Annotations in:] Uncorrected Proof Copy of Cities And Men: An Autobiography. Volume II (1914-1924) / This is the ultimately corrected version with manuscript annotations and corrections by Sir Harry Luke in ballpen and ink. Corrections especially in the chapters “The End of Transcaucasian Independence” and “Jerusalem, 1920 – 1924”. Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caspian.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Geofrey Bles, 1953. 21,5 cm x 14,5 cm. 256 pages. Original Softcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. With annotations and markings by Harry Luke. Cocked and wrinkled spine. Otherwise in good condition.

9. [Autobiography Cities and Men] – Luke, Harry Charles.

[Manuscript / Working-copy (with Luke’s Exlibris) of:] Uncorrected Proof Copy of Cities And Men: An Autobiography. Volume I: The First Thirty Years (1884-1914) / This is the ultimately corrected version of Volume I, with several manuscript annotations and corrections by Sir Harry Luke in ballpen and ink but mainly with the positioning of the maps by Luke in the chapters of Volume One (all maps are sellotaped by Luke within the correct text-positions: Map of Cyprus, Map of Southern Alaska, Map of Mt. Athos, Map of “The Author’s Journey in Palestine and Syria in 1908” as well the tipped-in business-card of Dr.Albert Nissim). The Proof -copy also comes with the printed and correctly published Volumes Two and Three from Luke’s Autobiography and Volume III has the rare original Bookplate of Luke verso the endpaper: Motto: “Spero Meliora – E Libris Harrici Caroli Luke”. Three volumes.

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Geoffrey Bles, 1953 – 1956. 22 cm x 14 cm. Volume I (Proof Working-Copy): 245 pages / Volume II: 262 pages / Volume III: (with Luke’s Exlibris / Bookplate): 254 pages plus loosely inserted an original photographic postcard of the “Tablet Placed by the Malta Government in the Bondi Palace, Gozo, to Mark Its Restoration” (this image was printed on page 97 of Volume III of Luke’s Autobiography). Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective Mylar. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. With annotations and markings by Harry Luke. Good condition with some minor signs of external wear.

10. [Pacific Content / Gardner Island] – Luke, Harry Charles.

From a South Seas Diary: 1938-1942. [Personal Working copy Number Two, now with the added Index and a six-page manuscript notepad for a lecture by Luke in the year 1957 at the British Embassy in Oslo “Islands of the Caribbean” (four of the manuscript-pages on stationery of St.James Club, Piccadilly)] / This second working copy is an actual printed version of the final book but Luke immediately used it as his personal Review copy with some occasional annotations and corrections, for a possible new edition].

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. London, Nicholson & Watson, 1945. 19 cm x 12,5 cm. 255 pages, illustrated throughout with 185 photographs by the author. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective Mylar. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. Tearing to dustjacket, bumping to boards. Otherwise in good condition.