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First Edition of Winston Churchill's London To Ladysmith Via Pretoria
CHURCHILL, WINSTON SPENCER.
London To Ladysmith Via Pretoria.
London: Longmans, Green 1900.
First edition of Churchill’s fourth book and personal record of his impressions during the first five months of the Second Boer War. Octavo, in original cloth, with three folding maps (one printed in color). In near fine condition.
Price: $900.00 Item Number: 129422
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Winston S. Churchill's My Early Life, Thoughts and Adventures, Great Contemporaries, and Step by Step; inscribed by Churchill to his trusted financial adviser T.E.R. Harris
CHURCHILL, WINSTON S.
My Early Life; Thoughts and Adventures; Great Contemporaries; Step by Step.
London: Odhams Press Limited 1936-1939.
First Odhams press edition of four of Churchill’s best-known works. Octavo, 4 volumes, original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, illustrated. Presentation set, inscribed by Churchill to his financial adviser on the front free endpaper of My Early Life, “To T.E.R. Harris from Winston S. Churchill Christmas 1947” and initialed by Churchill in the three other volumes. The recipient, T.E.R. Harris was Churchill’s financial adviser at the Pall Mall branch of Lloyds bank in London from 1943 to 1948. For many years Churchill relied heavily on his press articles and book deals to assuage his financial worries and often turned to Harris for advice. One of these occasions was in 1943, when Churchill was negotiating the film rights to Marlborough with Sir Alexander Korda and MGM. As the bidding was being pushed up, he sought tax advice from Lloyds and Harris was consulted. Harris happened to be acquainted with famed film producer Filippo Del Giudice, who finally secured the rights to the film for a staggering £50,000. Although Marlborough was ultimately never produced, the deal completely changed Churchill’s finances and allowed him to open negotiations to buy back the rights to the History of the English-Speaking Peoples. Each are near fine in near fine dust jackets. An exceptional association.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 131601
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“THE DEBUT OF AN EXCITING NEW TALENT”: CHURCHILL’S FIRST BOOK, THE STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE
CHURCHILL, WINSTON S.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force, An Episode of Frontier War.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co 1898.
First edition, first issue, of Winston Churchill’s first book, an account of his service with the Malakand Field Force in India, with frontispiece portrait of Sir Binden Blood and six maps, two of them folding and in color. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. Uncommon in this condition.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 133224
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“ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT TREATISES ON WAR THAT HAS EVER BEEN WRITTEN”: THE WORLD CRISIS, FULL FIRST EDITION SET IN ORIGINAL CLOTH, SIGNED BY CHURCHILL IN VOLUME I
CHURCHILL, WINSTON S.
The World Crisis 1911-1914; The World Crisis 1915; The World Crisis 1916-1918 Part One and Part Two; The World Crisis. The Aftermath; The World Crisis. The Eastern Front.
London: Thornton Butterfield 1923-31.
First British editions of Churchill’s important history of World War I. Octavo, six volumes, original blue cloth. Illustrated throughout with maps and charts. Errata slips to volumes I and IV present. Volume I is signed by the author on the half-title page, “Inscribed by Winston Churchill 1948.” In near fine condition. Housed in a custom box. An exceptional set, uncommon in this condition and signed.
Price: $14,500.00 Item Number: 130310
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"It is the primary right of men to die and kill for the land they live in": First Swiss Edition Set of Winston Churchill’s Classic A History of the English-Speaking Peoples; Signed by Him; From the library of His Agent and Close Friend Emery Reves
CHURCHILL, WINSTON S.
Geschichte. [A History of the English-Speaking Peoples].
Bern, Switzerland: Alfred Scherz Verlag 1956-1958.
First Swiss editions of each of the four volumes of this set of Churchill’s classic history. Octavo, original cloth, 4 volumes, illustrated from maps and diagrams. Boldly signed in volume two by Winston Churchill on the the half -title page. From the library of Emery Reves. Reves contributed greatly to orienting the work toward a wider audience, and in whose home it was completed. Using his intimate knowledge of foreign markets, Reves was able to help adapt Churchill’s more anglophone conception for wider audiences. Churchill wrote of how, “[Reves] has had lengthy telephonings with French, German, Italian and Scandinavian publishers, showing what they want for their editions” (Gilbert, Winston Churchill and Emery Reves: Correspondance). In 1937, he befriended Churchill, becoming his literary agent, and used his news agency, Cooperation Press Service, to place Churchill’s articles on current world events in major newspapers across Europe. Though Churchill’s writing formerly cast a limited global presence, by 1939 Reves had helped place Churchill’s work on the front pages of thirty newspapers, with 750 different outlets annually, representing approximately fifteen to twenty million readers in twenty-five languages. Referring to Reves in 1940, Churchill wrote to the British Minister of Information, “I can speak from personal experience of his altogether exceptional abilities and connections,” and characterized him as “a most brilliant writer” who “holds our views very strongly.” Official Churchill historian, Sir Martin Gilbert, in 1997 published an extensive record of correspondence between Reeves and Churchill from 1937-64, in his book Winston Churchill and Emery Reeves. After Churchill was elected Prime Minister in 1940, and took office that May, Reves was sent to New York in February of 1941 to help build up the British propaganda organization in both North and South America. Reves described his mission as convincing the West that Nazi aggression seen in Europe would continue in the Americas and that the principles of non-intervention were “principles of a lost world, which lead every nation to the abyss.” After the war, he purchased the rights to publish Churchill’s war memoirs, titled Memoirs of the Second World War, outside the United Kingdom and Churchill’s extensive four volume History of the English-Speaking Peoples. Though considered a risk by many at the time, both sold widely. He made significant personal contributions to Churchill’s highly successful six volume Memoirs of the Second World War, and the exceptional international network he had developed since the 1930’s was the key to the book’s outstanding success. Significantly increasing Churchill’s wealth, and retaining a roughly 10-15% commission, in the late 1940’s, Reves negotiated an impressive $1.4 million in the United States, and 555,000 pounds for Churchill in the United Kingdom for the rights to Memoirs of the Second World War, with the resulting royalties becoming equally impressive. Each are near fine in the original dust jackets. volume one lacking the front free endpaper. An exceptional example with noted provenance.
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 133321