Search Results: Authors starting with C from Churchill Book Collector

London: Macmillan and Co., 1877. Hardcover. Sub-lieutenant Lord George Campbell was the youngest son of the eighth Duke of Argyll. He published 'Log-Letters from the Challenger' stating in the preface that 'These letters - extracted from my log - were written home during our cruise with no intention of publication... Such as they are I hope they will give the reader a general idea of the Challenger's cruise - a cruise which will rank as famous in the Annals of Science'. The voyage of the Challenger included visits to the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Hawaii, China and Japan. This is a copy of the stated "Fifth Edition" in very good condition. The green cloth binding is stamped in black and gilt with a decorative device on the front cover. The binding is tight, clean, and square, with sharp corners. Minor wear shows at the hinges, spine ends, and corners. The contents are bright and tight. The original brown endpapers and the color folding map are both intact. A… Read More

London: His Majesty's Stationery Office (H.M.S.O.), 1940. Pamphlet. This is a wartime pamphlet of Prime Minister Neville ChamberlainÂ’s speech on British agriculture in the first months of the Second World War. This copy is in good plus condition. This pamphlet is a single sheet folded to create four leaves including a cover and three pages of text. The pamphlet measures 10.5 x 8 inches (26.6 x 20.3cm) and is printed in green and black. Though no publisher is specified, this is most plausibly a British Government publication, with an identifying number of "51-6494" printed at the lower right of the final page. Having been stored folded in half, there is a pronounced horizontal crease across the center. Tears have formed at the ends of the horizontal crease, one inch on the right and .5 inch on the left. This is an uncommon pamphlet with no copies found on WorldCat. On 3 September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany, formally entering what would become a defining conflict not just for Britain,… Read More

Toronto & London: Ryerson Press & George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1933-1938. First edition. Hardcover. . This is a full, jacketed set of the unusual and scarce Canadian issue of the first edition. Marlborough is Winston ChurchillÂ’s monumental biography of his great ancestor, John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. This Canadian issue, like its British counterpart, is four volumes published individually between 1933 and 1938. Also like their British first edition counterparts, these Canadian issues are physically impressive. The books measure 9.25 x 6.25 inches (23.5 x 15.9 cm) and are roughly 2 inches (5.1 cm) thick, each volume with a profusion of illustrations, facsimiles, maps, and plans. However, the Canadian first editions are far more scarce than their British counterparts with subtle differences in appearance and presentation. The Canadian editions of the first three volumes were issued by Ryerson Press instead of Harrap, bound in a dark purple cloth instead of the plum of the British… Read More

London: Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1957. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. . This is a pre-publication publisherÂ’s review copy of the third volume of ChurchillÂ’s sweeping history and last great work. A 6.75 x 4.5 inches (17 x 11.5 cm) announcement from Cassell is printed on ivory cardstock with an orange nude illustration with the typed title, author, price, and publication date of “14th October 1957” announces “CASSEL and Company Limited have pleasure in sending for review a copy…” and requesting “that no review appears before that date”. A second notice, printed on white Cassell stationery measuring 8 x 5 inches (20 x 12.5 cm) exhorts the reviewer not to print a review prematurely: “…Owing to the particular importance of this bookÂ… review copies are being sent out earlier than usual. We shouldÂ… be grateful if you would ensure that no review appears before publication date.” The book itself is near fine in a very good plus dust jacket. The red cloth binding is clean,… Read More

La Capponcina, Cap d'Ail, 1958. Letter. This typed 17 August 1958 letter from Winston S. Churchill to Jock Colville concerns the death of ChurchillÂ’s close friend and wartime Minister for Information, Brendan Bracken. Though short and restrained, the letter is a fascinating convergence, touching three great Churchill associations – Colville, Bracken, and Beaverbrook. Colville had written to Churchill on 11 August “My dear Winston, I know how much you loved Brendan... You, of course, were everything to himÂ… IÂ… am broken hearted by his going, and this gives me some glimmering of what you must feel.” This letter, ChurchillÂ’s reply, is typed on ChurchillÂ’s Chartwell stationery, but with the address crossed out and typed “at La Capponcina, | Cap dÂ’Ail”. The letter is dated “17 August, 1958” and reads “My dear Jock, Thank you very much for writing. It is indeed a great loss to us all and I was glad to have your letter. I look forward very much to seeing you both in September.” ChurchillÂ’s… Read More

London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1931. First edition, second printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, second and final printing, in the quite scarce hardcover binding. India is a collection of ten Churchill speeches as part of his campaign against the India Bill, over which he broke with his partyÂ’s leadership. The first edition is most commonly found in orange paper wraps. A much rarer version of the first edition was issued in a cased (hardcover) binding, featuring a bright orange coarse cloth. A second printing of the first edition was issued in the same month as the first printing. According to Churchill bibliographer Ronald Cohen: "Few cased copies of the second printing are known." Here is one of those very few - a hardcover first edition, second printing. This copy is in good condition. The striking orange cloth binding is square and tight with sharp corners and bright color. Overall soiling is quite light, the spine shows no appreciable color shift, and light shelf wear is… Read More

London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1923. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is a six-volume British first edition, first printing set of Winston Churchills history of the First World War in which he played such a critical, controversial, and varied role. Sets thus, in dust jackets, are an elusive prize. When these volumes were published, between 1923 and 1931, booksellers often discarded the dust jackets. Even those spared by booksellers often did not survive. Mere presence of the jackets commands attention; this particular set is compelling, the jackets in superior condition to those in the precious few full sets we have been able to offer over the years. Of particular note, the 1911-1914 jacket is the first issue, with a blank rear face that does not advertise subsequent volumes in the series, and the exceptionally scarce Eastern Front jacket and the two 1916-1918 dust jackets so prone to brittleness and fragmentation are substantially complete and in one piece. This set features… Read More

London: Longmans Green & Co., 1900. Colonial issue of the first edition, first printing. Hardcover. This well-worn survivor is a rare prize – the first edition, first printing, Colonial issue of Winston ChurchillÂ’s only novel, far rarer than its U.S. or British first edition counterparts. Only 1,670 Colonial editions were issued in this illustrated hardcover binding - and this small number includes the second and third printings. The survival rate was poor given the tropical climates in much of the colonies. Those few examples that do survive are often quite worn and re-backed or re-bound. This is an original, unrestored copy, sound and complete though in poor condition, clearly having endured customary depredations of age and use. First printing is confirmed by the absence of the words "NEW IMPRESSION" on the title page. The binding is square and tight, though quite considerably worn, the cloth frayed along the hinges and extremities, the strikingly illustrated front cover scuffed, the blank rear… Read More

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing, of Churchill's second published work, the lengthiest from his time as an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent during the waning days of Queen VictoriaÂ’s reign. This first edition is not only compellingly written, but also physically beautiful. The two large, lavish volumes are decorated with gilt representations of the Mahdi's tomb on the spines and a gunboat on the front covers. Each volume is printed on heavy paper with a profusion of illustrations, maps, and plans. They are also scarce; there were 2,000 copies of this first edition, first printing. Moreover, this is one of the few Churchill books for which there was no concurrent U.S. first edition. This first edition, first printing is an unrestored, intact set in the striking, original bindings. Condition is very good. The bindings do show overall scuffing and wear to extremities, including wrinkled spine… Read More

London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1951. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is a particularly clean jacketed British first edition, only printing of the third of Churchill's five postwar speech volumes. In the Balance includes 58 speeches and broadcasts delivered between 26 January 1949 and 14 December 1950. This British first edition, only printing, is scarce thus, near fine in a near fine dust jacket. We seldom offer individual volumes of this caliber outside of sets. The blue cloth binding is square, clean, unfaded, and tight, with sharp corners and bright spine gilt. We note only a tiny bruise to the lower rear corner and light bruising to the bottom edge of the front cover. The contents are age-toned but clean, with no previous ownership marks and no spotting. The dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original front flap price, unusually clean and bright, and entirely complete, with no loss. Trivial shelf wear is confined to the extremities. The white rear face shows overall… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1931. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is a jacketed copy of the first edition, first printing of the sixth and final book of The World Crisis, Churchill's monumental history of the First World War. A quarter of a century before the Second World War endowed him with lasting fame, Winston Churchill played a uniquely critical, controversial, and varied role in the “War to end all wars”. Then, being Churchill, he wrote about it. The World Crisis was originally published in six volumes between 1923 and 1931, with the first four volumes spanning the war years 1911-1918 and the fifth dealing with the postwar years 1918-1928 (The Aftermath). In proposing this sixth and final book to his publisher, Churchill wrote: "In the previous volumes of the World Crisis I have described only in a few pages the course of events in the Eastern theatre. They have merely been the background of our main drama of the war. But now I think I might write a volume called 'The… Read More

London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd., 1937. Keystone Library Issue, second printing. Hardcover. This the second printing of the Keystone Library issue of Winston ChurchillÂ’s extremely popular autobiography, covering the years from his birth in 1874 to his first few years in Parliament. My Early Life was originally published in 1930, sold very well at the time, and has seen a great many editions since, many of them collectible in their own right. But, of course, a premium attaches to first editions. The Keystone Library series was published by Thornton Butterworth in the same setting and binding style as the first edition. There were three printings between 1934 and 1940. Like the first edition, the Keystone Library edition was also bound in a striking purple cloth that proved very prone to wear and fading. With jacketed first British editions now extravagantly rare and extraordinarily expensive, this original publisher's Keystone Library issue is an attractive alternative. This copy is very good… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1937. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is the fifth and penultimate volume of Churchill's Marlborough: His Life and Times, the U.S. first edition in the uniform issue blue and gold dust jacket. The British first edition was issued in four volumes. The U.S. publisher chose to split the first two volumes into two books each, resulting in a six-volume set that is otherwise identical in content to the British. Only when the sixth and final volume was published in 1938 were all six U.S. first editions offered in uniform blue and gold dust jackets. This is a near fine copy in a good plus dust jacket. Alone among the six U.S. first edition volumes, Volume V was bound in a slightly different cloth that proved highly susceptible to spine toning, even when jacketed. This copy is a marvelous exception, not only square, clean, and tight with sharp corners, but also strikingly clean and bright, with perfect, unfaded green hue and vivid spine gilt. We note only the… Read More

London: Macmillan and Company, 1906. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is a first edition set of Winston Churchill's biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill. The first edition, only printing, is aesthetically pleasing, featuring deep red cloth, untrimmed page edges, gilt stamping, and the family coat of arms in gilt on the front covers. However, the red cloth binding of this edition proved quite susceptible to fading and wear and the contents to heavy spotting. First edition sets are not especially uncommon, but collector worthy sets are scarce. This set is in very good condition. The red cloth bindings remain square, tight, and bright. There is modest shelf wear to extremities as well as modest scuffs and blemishes, a bump to the upper front corner of Volume II, and some abrasion to the lower Volume I rear corner. Shelf presentation is quite respectable for the edition, with no appreciable color shift between the covers and spine and bright spine gilt. The contents remain… Read More

New York: The British Library of Information, 1940. First edition, only printing. Pamphlet. This is the first edition, only printing of Churchill's December 23, 1940 address to the Italian People. The end of 1940 found Britain having escaped the imminent threat of invasion, but nonetheless beleaguered and pinning many hopes on the United States, which was still months away from approving the Lend Lease Act and nearly a year from formally entering the war. "With his thoughts focused on the many dangers in the Aegean and Mediterranean, Churchill broadcast on the evening of December 23 to the Italian People." (Gilbert, Volume VI, p.960). This is an eight-page, wire-stitched pamphlet measuring 9 x 6 inches (22.9 x 15.2 cm). Condition is very good plus. The pamphlet is clean, crisp, and complete and both original binding staples are intact with no corrosion. The top edge shows mild creasing, some age-toning is evident at the perimeter of the covers, and there is a tiny dot of stray ink at the lower… Read More

London: The Folio Society, 2007. The Folio Society edition. Hardcover. The World Crisis is Winston Churchill's epic history of the First World War and its aftermath. This is the aesthetically striking and reader-friendly unabridged Folio Society edition, a clean, unmarked set in the notoriously fragile slipcase. This edition is not only beautiful on the shelf, but also among the most pleasing editions to actually read. As with most Folio Society editions, this is a top quality and aesthetically striking production. The books feature a sewn binding in heavy dark gray-tan cloth. The front cover of each volume features a different full-length war photo. The spines are stamped gilt with the volume number within a red oval. The contents are printed on high quality paper. The text is from the British first edition, but with the very welcome addition of numerous photographs in each volume with explanatory captions. Volume I features an introduction by Churchill's Official Biographer, Martin Gilbert. The… Read More

New York: The British Library of Information, 1941. First edition, only printing. Leaflet. This is the first edition, only printing, of Churchill's 18 March 1941 address to the Pilgrims Society (erroneously printed as "Pilgrim Society" on the leaflet cover). Founded in 1902, the Pilgrims Society is an Anglo-American organization whose objective is "the encouragement of Anglo-American good fellowship". Churchill addressed the Pilgrims Society on 18 March to welcome the new American Ambassador to the United Kingdom, John. G. Winant, in the wake of the passage of the Lend-Lease Act by the U.S. Congress. "We welcome you here, Mr. Winant, at a moment when the great battle in which your government and nation are deeply interested is developing its full scope and severity... Mr. Winant, you come to us at a grand turning point in the world's history." The folded, four-panel leaflet measures 6 x 9 inches (15.2 x 22.9 cm). Condition is near-fine. The paper is bright with virtually no wear. We note only a… Read More

London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1950. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is a superior, jacketed copy of the British first edition, only printing of the second of Churchill's five postwar speech volumes. Condition is near fine in a near fine dust jacket. The green cloth binding is square, clean, unfaded, and tight with bright spine gilt and only a few minor blemishes. The contents are notably bright and clean, with no spotting and no previous ownership marks. Only the text block edges show minor age-toning. The dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price, and entirely complete, with no loss. We note only trivial blemishes and minor toning along the rear flap fold and to the spine print and border. The dust jacket is protected beneath a removable, clear archival cover. Europe Unite includes 52 speeches spanning January 1947 to December 1948. The book reflects Churchill's position as then-Leader of the Opposition, and many of the speeches contain both domestic… Read More

London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1933. Sandhurst abridged edition. Hardcover. This is the scarce and desirable “Sandhurst Edition” of The World Crisis – Winston ChurchillÂ’s history of the First World War. Churchill played a critical, controversial, and varied role in “The war to end all wars” a quarter of a century before he led Britain during the Second World War. His epic history of the conflict was originally published in six volumes between 1923 and 1931, followed in that year by a first abridged and revised edition which added new material. This 1933 “Sandhurst Edition” was a special – indeed unique – new abridgment, the completely reset text featuring chapters selected by Churchill from his 1931 abridged and revised edition. Only 1,354 copies were printed for the Royal Military College as a cadet textbook. We recently acquired a trove of a dozen copies laboriously sourced over long years by a college professor – more copies than we have encountered in the entire time we have… Read More

London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1951. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is a particularly clean jacketed British first edition, only printing of the third of Churchill's five postwar speech volumes. In the Balance includes 58 speeches and broadcasts delivered between 26 January 1949 and 14 December 1950. This British first edition, only printing, is increasingly scarce thus, near fine in a near fine dust jacket. We seldom offer individual volumes of this caliber outside of sets. The blue cloth binding is square, tight, and clean with sharp corners, vivid spine gilt, and no reportable wear. The contents are quite clean, with none of the typical spotting. Even the fore and bottom edges are clean, with only a hint of shelf dust to the tips of the bottom edges. The sole factor preventing our grading this copy as truly “fine” is an inked gift inscription on the front free endpaper recto – the only previous ownership mark. The dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original front flap… Read More