TWO letters from Sir Edward Elgar to one of his most famous fans, Lawrence of Arabia, have fetched more than £1,500 at auction in America.

The men struck up a friendship, when the First World War hero, TE Lawrence, wrote fan mail to Worcestershire's famous son.

Lawrence, who fought for Arab independence and led Arab troops against Germany's allies, Turkey, wrote to Elgar, congratulating the composer on his works.

He wrote: "We have just been playing your second symphony... and agreed you must be written to and told... that this symphony gets further under our skins than anything else in the record library at Clouds Hill."

He added: "Generally we play the symphony last of all, towards the middle of the night because nothing comes off very well after it."

The signed correspondence, sent by the Lower Broadheath born composer, was in the form of two letters. They fetched a total of £1,525 when they were auctioned at Christie's in New York last week and were bought by an anonymous bidder.

In one of the letters he said to Lawrence that it gave him pleasure to "know that you were a listener to my music... I have read about you with something akin to awe..."

Friendship

The pair met in 1932, at Elgar's Marl Bank residence in Rainbow Hill, Worcester. Lawrence was among a small group of Elgar's friends, including George Bernard Shaw, who gathered to hear proof recordings of the 14-year-old Yehudi Menuhin, playing the composer's Violin Concerto.

The Elgar lot was among a range of articles, including 82 Lawrence mementoes of mainly letters and books, which fetched a total of £524,725 at the auction. They belong to Brigitte Spiro, widow of wealthy New Orleans property tycoon Harry Spiro.

The highest selling lot fetched £120,000, paid for a copy of Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom - setting a world auction record price for a 1926 edition of the book.

An autographed letter from Sir Winston Churchill signed to Lawrence, dated May 16, 1927 fetched £32,123.

Mrs Spiro had already sold a letter by Britain's greatest naval hero, Lord Nelson for £117,250 in a previous sale.