IMAGES of war hero Lawrence of Arabia are to be auctioned after they were discovered by chance.

A photography enthusiast found glass plate slides carrying the iconic images in a Victorian stereoviewer he bought at auction in Bournemouth seven years ago for £32.

The images include iconic photographs, some of which are on show at the National Portrait Gallery, and some new images that may include Lawrence's family members and places he visited.

The photographs were taken in India in 1928 and will go under the hammer at Duke's auction house, Dorchester.

The images show the military leader of the Arab revolt against the Turks at Miranshah near the Afghanistan border in an open shirt.

In another image, Lawrence holds an injured wrist and in others is shown in uniform stood in the doorway of a hut.

The vendor realised what he had found when he saw the name Shaw', referring to Lawrence's penfriend, the wife of poet George Bernard Shaw, etched on the images.

The vendor, who lives in Dorset but wishes to remain anonymous, said: "I paid £32 for the mixed lot because I was interested in the little stereoviewer they were in.

"Only five years later did I look at the 5in by 4in glass plate negatives that came with it.

"The man in them looked familiar and then I saw the name Shaw on the packet and I realised who it must be.

"Some of the images are very famous and are displayed in the National Portrait Gallery but others are unseen."

The vendor said he believed the pictures were taken on Lawrence's own box plate field camera by an RAF colleague.

Duke's valuer Deborah Doyle said the plates could sell for up to £1,500.

She said: "One of these slides is of the famous photograph of Lawrence nursing his wrist, which he broke in the spring of 1926. The wrist apparently hurt for so long Lawrence could not get out of the habit of nursing it.

"Other slides from this collection are unidentifiable and we wonder if these are undiscovered pictures of Lawrence's family?"

She added that the collection of more than 30 slides shows images of landscapes possibly visited by Lawrence during his war days. Lawrence died in a motorcycle crash near Bovington in 1935.

The auction will take place on April 10 and 11.