London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, inscribed and dated by Churchill on 12 August 1900 during his first successful campaign for Parliament, just 23 days after Churchill's return from South Africa, and accompanied by a typed, hand-emended, and signed presentation letter from Churchill specifically explaining the gift of the book

London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1900. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. On 12 August 1900, during his first successful campaign for Parliament, Winston Churchill inscribed and dated this remarkable presentation copy of the first edition, first printing to the recipient.

It was a highly relevant gift. First, the book – Churchill’s fourth – recounts the daring, dramatic escape that made Churchill a war hero and propelled his first election victory a month and a half after he inscribed this copy. Second, it was gifted in thanks for the recipient’s help on a Sunday with the young candidate’s overwhelming accumulation of correspondence. This inscribed presentation copy is accompanied by a typed, signed presentation letter from Churchill specifically explaining the gift of this book.

Signed, first edition copies of Churchill’s early works are quite scarce. A copy thus – inscribed, dated, contemporary, to a known recipient, and with definitive provenance – is a compellingly rare prize.

Churchill inscribed this book in four lines on the half-title recto:
“To John Mansfield Esq. | from | Winston S. Churchill | August 12th 1900”

The accompanying hand-emended and signed presentation letter is typed on a single sheet of laid, watermarked paper measuring 8 x 10 inches and printed with Churchill’s mother’s address, “35 A, GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE, | W.” The typed date is “August 14th, 1900. In three paragraphs, the letter reads:

“Dear Mr. Mansfield,
The Letters are all right. It is very kind of you to have taken so much trouble to have written them for me.
I don’t know what I should have done if the accumulation had run on for two or three more days.
I fear I was the thoughtless cause of spoiling your fine Sunday. Will you accept, as a small recognition of the assistance you have been to me, a copy of my book about the Boer War, which I forward with this letter?”

The word “for” in the second paragraph, as well as the question mark at the end of the third paragraph, are both hand-emended.

The valediction and signature are likewise in Churchill’s hand: “Yours vy truly | Winston S. Churchill”

The recipient, John Henry Mansfield (1865-1932), was the estate agent for Howick Hall, home of Churchill’s host, Earl Grey.

This inscribed presentation copy approaches very good condition. The binding is square, tight, and clean. The binding is lightly soiled, though only appreciably on the blank rear cover, and the spine is not toned, with both the gilt and red subtitle distinct. The binding shows light wear to extremities, some fraying along the front joint, and a little wrinkling to the spine cloth. The contents are particularly bright and clean for the edition and retain a crisp feel. We find no previous ownership marks other than the author’s inscription. Especially impressive for the edition, there is no spotting. The original black endpapers are intact with no sign of cracking at the gutters. All maps and plans are present, including the folding maps at the title page and p.366. The rear catalogue is dated “10/99” (rather than “’7/00”), indicating this is one of the earlier bound copies.

The book is housed in a full red Morocco goatskin Solander case featuring a rounded, hubbed spine, the spine bands gilt rule framed and gilt decorated, the covers with gilt rule borders, the interior lined with red velvet. Condition of the case is as-new, with no reportable wear, soiling, blemishes, or fading.

The typed, hand-emended, and signed letter from Churchill is complete, with no loss or tears, despite significant soiling and staining, particularly to the upper and right edges. The letter has three horizontal creases and one vertical crease, ostensibly from original posting.

The letter is housed in a clear, removable, archival sleeve within a rigid, crimson cloth folder.

While the letter and book together provide self-evident provenance, we can also share that the book and letter were sold by the great grandchild of the recipient, John Mansfield.

Reference: Cohen A4.1.a, Woods/ICS A4(a.1), Langworth p.53.