Search Results: Authors starting with W from Churchill Book Collector

Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1855. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing of LongfellowÂ’s epic poem. This first printing of 2 October 1855 is distinguished from the 22 November second printing by issue points at pages 32, 39, 96, 268, and 278. Condition approaches very good overall, complete and intact with notably clean contents. The gilt-printed and elaborately blind-decorated brown cloth remains tight with sharp corners, bright spine gilt, and no appreciable color shift between the covers and spine. We note various minor blemishes to the binding and some shelf wear, including wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents are clean and bright with a crisp, unread feel. The pale yellow endpapers are intact, as is the publisherÂ’s “November, 1855” catalogue bound in at the rear. The sole previous ownership mark is the small, illustrated sticker of a “B. Dawson, Bookseller & Stationer” of “Montreal” affixed to the upper front pastedown. This is quite… Read More

London: Andrew Melrose, 1920. First edition. Hardcover. This improbably scarce book is the first edition of the memoirs of First World War flying ace Walter Noble. The book is particularly noteworthy for a substantive introduction by Winston S. Churchill, then serving as Secretary of State for War and Air. This 1920 first edition is not to be confused with the 1977 Cedric Chivers large type edition, which is both substantially larger and considerably less sought and valuable. Condition of this copy is good plus, sound and complete. The navy cloth binding is square and tight, though with overall scuffing and blistering of the cloth to the upper rear cover. The contents are substantially clean, age-toned but with no spotting. An illustrated previous owner bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown and the rear pastedown shows some scarring, as if something adhesive were long ago removed. The binding is fitted with a clear, removable, mylar cover. Credited with 12 aerial victories, Walter Noble was… Read More

London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1905. Limited, numbered, finely-bound deluxe, signed edition. Vellum. This exceptional 1905 edition of Washington IrvingÂ’s classic tale was notably and lavishly illustrated by Arthur Rackham. This is not just an aesthetically arresting and highly collectable edition on its own merits, but represents both a stylistic and professional turning point for the celebrated illustrator who contributed his art and his signature to this edition. Rip van Winkle was the first book entirely illustrated by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition format and “established him as the leading decorative illustrator of the Edwardian period.” Indeed, it was owing to exhibit of RackhamÂ’s Rip van Winkle illustrations in Leicester Galleries, London, that “J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, commissioned Rackham to illustrate the first edition of his classic children's tale Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906)”. This editionÂ’s 250 copies were bound in illustrated vellum, lettered in… Read More

Augusta, Maine: KJ Printing, n.d.. First edition. Hardcover. This undated and privately printed account of the authorÂ’s trip to East Africa is handsomely produced, with endpapers featuring detailed color maps of Uganda and Kenya charting the course of WestonÂ’s journey, and illustrated with 17 color photographs. The binding is heavy blue buckram. Condition is near fine, the binding bright and tight with only trivial wear to extremities, the contents clean with only a previous bookseller sticker to the lower front pastedown.

London: The Swallow Press, 1975. Full leather. This is an exquisite, finely bound, strikingly unconventionally illustrated edition of The Sonnets by poet, playwright, dramatist, and primus inter pares, William Shakespeare. 300 copies were produced thus of which this is number 44, signed on the colophon by Robert Graves (who contributes a substantive Preface), Edward Burrett (the book designer), and Clarke Hutton (the illustrator). A troika of features distinguish this copy. First is exceptional condition. Second, this copy is accompanied by the original publisherÂ’s prospectus and order form. Third, this is a designerÂ’s presentation copy, evidenced by a lengthy, signed, and dated 1975 gift inscription by Edward Burrett and his wife, Cecile, on the recto of the blank preceding the half title. Edward Burrett (1909-1995) was a noted specialist and connoisseur in book design, a founding member of the Society of Typographic Designers, and founding proprietor of the Penmiel Press. This large volume… Read More

Connecticut: The Easton Press, 2013. Full leather. This is a strikingly handsome limited edition of Shakespeares The Tempest, with illustrations by Edmund Dulac, published by The Easton Press, 2013. Condition is unequivocally as new; this copy is still hermetically sealed in the publishers shrinkwrap and housed in the publishers shipping box. This limited, full leather edition features all 40 original full-color illustrations by the great Edmund Dulac originally appearing in the illustrated edition of 1908. Bound in full cream leather, this edition also features a cover design replicating the 1908 edition and contents bound with all edges gilt and marbled endpapers. The volume is housed in a matching cloth slipcase and each of the 400 copies is hand-numbered. Edmund Dulac (1882-1953) made a name for himself as an impressive illustrator, earning a commission from Hodder and Stoughton to produce color plates for the 1907 edition of The Arabian Nights. He also illustrated a 1908 edition of The Tempest,… Read More

Letter. These two typed, signed letters from newspaper publisher Lord Camrose to Sir Newman Flower of Cassell and Company Limited concern what has been has been called “perhaps the greatest coup of twentieth century publishing.” The letters were acquired as part of a small archive regarding ChurchillÂ’s publishing history with Cassell and follow the initial arrangement with Churchill, in the final year of the war, to publish what became The Second World War. ChurchillÂ’s six-volume history, eventually published between 1948 and 1954, made the fortunes of both the author and his publisher. Both letters are typed on “The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post” stationery. The first is dated “29th November, 1944”, just four days after ChurchillÂ’s initial publication commitment to Cassell. In his letter to Flower, Camrose refers to “the arrangement between us” (for world and serial versus British book publication rights) and references need for “a formal document between us...” Likely sensitive… Read More

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1912. The finely bound, limited, and numbered "Old Stratford Edition". Full leather. These 18 finely bound volumes are a full set of "The Old Stratford Edition" of 1912 of the works of Shakespeare. Per the limitation statement, "This set is number 4" of the edition "limited to one hundred and twenty-four numbered sets." Each of this sets volumes is magnificently bound in full brown Morocco goatskin. On each cover, elaborate gilt rule and decoration frame a gilt and red floral illustration. The spines feature raised and gilt decorated spine bands, gilt ruled and decorated compartments, and subtitle panels specifying the contents of each volume. The spine ends are gilt-hatched and the edges of the boards gilt ruled. Within, gilt-ruled and decorated turn-ins frame marbled endpapers. The contents are bound with red and gold silk head and foot bands and feature untrimmed fore and bottom edges and gilt top edges. The contents feature a profusion of illustrated leaves, each… Read More

San Diego: Frye & Smith, 1923. First edition. Hardcover. This is an inscribed first edition of the autobiography of a major figure in the development of San Diego, California – William Kettner. This was evidently a presentation copy for a close friend. The recto of the blank leaf preceding the frontispiece is inscribed, somewhat cryptically, in black ink in three lines: “To friend Hugh, | with fond memories of “Ad blubbing" [?] | William Kettner”. The book is bound in blue buckram, with gilt-stamped print on the front cover and spine, the contents bound with gold and blue head and tail bands, tan endpapers, and untrimmed fore edges. Condition approaches very good, the binding square and sound with minor shelf wear to extremities, the contents with moderate spotting, light and intermittent throughout, prominent only to the first and final leaves. A democrat, William Kettner (1864-1930) was elected to congress in 1912, serving as a congressman for 8 years. His early defining achievement was… Read More

Salisbury, England: Castle Hill Press, 2003. Quarter goatskin. This is the finely bound, first one-volume limited edition of the full 1922 'Oxford' text from Castle Hill Press, the premier editors and fine press publishers of material by and about T. E. Lawrence, founded by LawrenceÂ’s official biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017).  Of 1,225 total copies, the publisher issued just 180 thus, in quarter Nigerian goatskin, bound by The Fine Bindery and featuring raised spine bands, blind rule compartments and transitions, cloth sides, top edge gilt, ribbon place marker, brown endpapers with adjacent illustrated maps,, head and tail bands, and issued in a black, cardstock slipcase. This is copy "98" hand-numbered thus by the publisher on the title page verso limitation. Condition of the volume is flawless, as-new, acquired by us from the original owner. The slipcase shows just mild scuffs and shelf wear to extremities. This beautiful first one-volume edition not only features text that was… Read More

Salisbury, England: Castle Hill Press, 2003. Quarter goatskin. This is the finely bound, first one-volume limited edition of the full 1922 'Oxford' text from Castle Hill Press, the premier editors and fine press publishers of material by and about T. E. Lawrence, founded by LawrenceÂ’s official biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017).  Of 1,225 total copies, the publisher issued just 180 thus, in quarter Nigerian goatskin, bound by The Fine Bindery and featuring raised spine bands, blind rule compartments and transitions, cloth sides, top edge gilt, ribbon place marker, brown endpapers with adjacent illustrated maps, head and tail bands, and issued in a black, cardstock slipcase. This is copy "109" hand-numbered thus by the publisher on the title page verso limitation. Condition of the volume is flawless, as-new. The slipcase shows just mild scuffs and shelf wear to extremities. This beautiful first one-volume edition not only features text that was “re-checked against copies of the two source… Read More

Salisbury, England: Castle Hill Press, 2003. Quarter goatskin. This is the finely bound, first one-volume limited edition of the full 1922 'Oxford' text from Castle Hill Press, the premier editors and fine press publishers of material by and about T. E. Lawrence, founded by LawrenceÂ’s official biographer, Jeremy Wilson (1944-2017).  Of 1,225 total copies, the publisher issued just 180 thus, in quarter Nigerian goatskin, bound by The Fine Bindery and featuring raised spine bands, blind rule compartments and transitions, cloth sides, top edge gilt, ribbon place marker, brown endpapers with adjacent illustrated maps, and head and tail bands and issued in a rigid, cloth slipcase. Quarter goatskin copies were numbered 46-225. This copy is hand-numbered "53" by the publisher on the title page verso limitation.  We acquired this copy in flawless, as-new condition directly from Castle Hill Press. This beautiful first one-volume edition features text that was “re-checked against copies of the two… Read More

Johannesburg: Cape to Cairo Publications, 1931. 1st Edition. Hardcover. This is an anthology of short stories from South African writers with a Foreword by Lord de Villiers. Condition is very good in a very good dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is tight, clean, and square, retaining bright spine gilt, sharp corners, and nicely rounded spine. The contents are tight and bright, though spotted on all three text block edges, with intermittent intrusions into the text edges and more spotting at the prelims. There is a gift inscription on the ffep and a small South African bookshop sticker at the front pastedown. The striking and beautiful bright yellow dust jacket, illustrated in red and black, is highly complete and unfaded. There is soiling to the blank rear face, wrinkling at the spine ends, wear at the corners, and a small, circular bookshop sticker over the publisher's name at the bottom of the spine (from the same bookshop on the pastedown sticker).

London and various: Macmillan & Co. Ltd. and various other agencies, entities, and individuals, 1941-1979. This remarkable archive belonged to Charles Barker and centers on his service as Chief Clerk to British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill from 1940-1945, throughout Churchill's Second World War premiership. At the heart of the archive is a magnificent presentation copy of ChurchillÂ’s history of the First World War, a wartime edition presented to Barker as a gift for Christmas, 1942, featuring not only ChurchillÂ’s dated inscription, but also a typed and dated 10 Downing Street presentation slip. This item is but one of more than 70 individual items in the archive, ranging from books to correspondence and envelopes to photographs, to various mementos, including noteworthy invitations, tickets, and passes. Each of these items is interesting. Many are treasures in their own right. Provenance This archive came from the collection of British army veteran and noted Churchillian Major Alan… Read More

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1931. First edition. Half leather. This is the first edition, first printing of the first volume appearance of Winston S. Churchill's engaging speculative history essay "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg". Churchill's intriguing piece first appeared in Scribner's Magazine in December 1930 as part of a series of "What If" articles by eminent authors of the time. In 1931, Longmans published this book-length work on the same theme, including Churchill's piece at pp. 173-196. We commissioned this magnificent binding in half red Morocco goatskin over marbled paper-covered boards. The hubbed spine features gilt tooling on and framing the raised spine bands, as well as twin dark brown spine labels. The covers feature gilt rule transitions between the Morocco spine and corners and the marbled-paper sides. The contents are bound with matching marbled endpapers, silk head and foot bands, and gilt top edge. The newly commissioned binding is flawless. The contents are… Read More

Delray Beach, Florida: Levenger Press, 2005. Hardcover. Here is the beautiful Levenger Press edition, as-new in the original publisher's box. The Dream is Churchill's revealing essay about a ghostly reunion with his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, in which Winston recounts the world events that have transpired since his father's death - without revealing his own role in them. The Dream was first published a year after Churchill's death, on 30 January 1966, in the Sunday Telegraph. This extremely attractive edition was produced by Levenger Press in 2005. It is bound in blue-gray leather stamped in silver. The cover bears a drawing by Churchill's daughter. It is an oversize book, measuring 8.75 x 8.75 inches. In addition to the original text it contains a facsimile reproduction of a 2-page letter from a young Winston Churchill to his father, an Introduction by Richard M. Langworth, and an Afterword by Churchill's namesake grandson, Winston S. Churchill. It was originally issued by Levenger Press in… Read More

Including Chartwell, Hyde Park Gate, Hotel de la Mamounia in Marrakech, New York City, 10 Downing Street, and Villa Politi in Syracuse, Sicily, 1946 - 1962. Letter. This remarkable archive contains correspondence from Winston S. Churchill to his close friend, William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose (1879-1954) and CamroseÂ’s sons, centered on the conception, writing, and publication of ChurchillÂ’s Second World War memoirs. ChurchillÂ’s signature appears seventeen different times in this archive, along with various salutations, valedictions, emendations, and annotations. The correspondence spans sixteen years, from 15 October 1946 to 11 October 1962, detailing multiple aspects of ChurchillÂ’s war memoirs, from concerns attending initial conception before Churchill began writing to submittal of the final words of the sixth and final volume. Among other things, ChurchillÂ’s letters in this archive illuminate ChurchillÂ’s “Private & Confidential” considerations, his exacting engagement in editing… Read More

Delray Beach, Florida: Levenger Press, 2005. Full leather. Here is the beautiful Levenger Press edition, in near fine condition in the original publisher's box. The binding shows just a trivial few blemishes. The contents are immaculate. The publisher's box shows only superficial scuffs and dings to the edges. The Dream is Churchill's revealing essay about a ghostly reunion with his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, in which Winston recounts the world events that have transpired since his father's death - without revealing his own role in them. The Dream was first published a year after Churchill's death, on 30 January 1966, in the Sunday Telegraph. This extremely attractive edition was produced by Levenger Press in 2005. It is bound in blue-gray leather stamped in silver. The cover bears a drawing by Churchill's daughter. It is an oversize book, measuring 8.75 x 8.75 inches. In addition to the original text it contains a facsimile reproduction of a 2-page letter from a young Winston Churchill to… Read More

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1984. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This weighty, three-volume set first issued in 1984 publishes the complete correspondence of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston S. Churchill from October 1933 to April 1945, the month FDR died. The correspondence is edited with commentary by Warren F. Kimball. This is the first printing of the desirable hardcover edition. All printings of the hardcover edition totaled 3,466 sets sold and have long been out of print. This is a quality production with illustrated dust jackets, sturdy red cloth bindings, black endpapers, head and foot bands, and contents printed on acid-free paper. This set features very good volumes in very good dust jackets. The red cloth bindings are square, clean, bright, and tight with sharp corners. We note only wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents of all three volumes are clean and bright with no previous ownership marks. The chief defect is light spotting to the page edges,… Read More

The German Government (no publisher indicated), 1940 (n.d.). English-language edition, only printing. Paperback. This is a rare, extremely well-preserved, and fascinating wartime Nazi propaganda piece ridiculing Churchill's wartime alliance of convenience with Stalin. It was produced by the Germans specifically to help recruit captured British soldiers to the Britisher Freikorps, the SS unit made up of British troops. This English language edition was distributed to British POWs. Versions are known in Croatian, French, German, Norwegian, and Swedish, but by far the most important and scarce is the English language version. The format is newspaper cartoons critical of Stalin on each right hand page with notes and Churchill quotes critical of Stalinist Russia on opposing pages. The effect is a stinging contrast between Churchill's wartime alliance of necessity with his long history of ardent anti-communist sentiment. The book measures 8 5/8 x 6 inches, is 110 pages long, and is bound in… Read More