The King’s Regulations and Admiralty Instructions for the Government of His Majesty’s Naval Service.

[CHURCHILL, Winston S.].

Item Number: 127004

London: Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1913.

Revised edition of Vol. I of the Royal Navy’s official instruction manual, from the library of Sir Winston Churchill. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco by Sotheran with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, publisher’s device to the title page. From the library of Winston S. Churchill with his library stamp to the title page which reads, “This Is The Property of The First Lord 14 Nov. 1913.” Churchill served as First Lord of the Admiralty, or political head of the Royal Navy, from 1911 to 1915 during which he oversaw the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War. In very good condition. With a Churchill bookplate and Randolph S. Churchill’s bookplate to the pastedown. Embossed library stamp. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

In October 1911, Asquith appointed Churchill First Lord of the Admiralty, and he took up official residence at Admiralty House. As First Lord, Churchill was tasked with overseeing Britain's naval effort when the First World War began in August 1914. In the same month, the navy transported 120,000 British troops to France and began a blockade of German North Sea ports. Churchill sent submarines to the Baltic Sea to assist the Russian Navy and he sent the Marine Brigade to Ostend, forcing a reallocation of German troops. In September, Churchill assumed full responsibility for Britain's aerial defense and, in October, he visited Antwerp to observe Belgian defenses against the besieging Germans and promised British reinforcements for the city. Soon afterwards, however, Antwerp fell to the Germans and Churchill was criticized in the press. In May, Asquith agreed under parliamentary pressure to form an all-party coalition government, but the Conservatives' one condition of entry was that Churchill must be removed from the Admiralty. Churchill pleaded his case with both Asquith and Conservative leader Bonar Law, but had to accept demotion and became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.