Search Results: Titles starting with L from Churchill Book Collector

London: Copyright Keystone Press Agency Ltd., 14 November 1945. Photograph. This original November 1945 press photograph features a humorous image of a man lighting his cigar with a French novelty lighter modeled after the visage of Churchill and his iconic cigar. The photograph was received on 13 November 1945 for publication in the following eveningÂ’s papers. It measures 8.25 x 6 inches (20.96 x 15.24 cm). The glossy photo paper shows some mild curling, trivial edge wear, and light surface wear visible only under raking light. Some crinkling appears on the left border and extends about an inch into the photograph. The verso features an original typed caption stipulating "FOR PUBLICATION IN THE EVENING PAPERS OF WEDNESDAY Nov. 14th 1945" and titled "LATEST FRENCH NOVELTY - CHURCHILL CIGAR LIGHTER". The caption reads "KEYSTONE PHOTO SHOWS: France hasn't forgotten Mr. Churchill. From NR (sic) an invention by GROUPCAT, people now light their cigars from a table lighter modeled in the shape of Mr.… Read More

Europe: United States Office of War Information (OWI) in Europe, 1943. Periodical. This is a surprisingly well-preserved copy of the 8 December 1943 issue of the U.S.-published, French-language wartime newspaper LÂ’Amerique en Guerre, published by the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) in Europe. The English translation of the title reads America at War, and the sub-heading: Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill decide to attack to the west, to the east, and to the south. The newspaper-format artifact is a single sheet folded to produce four panels measuring 10.5 x 8.5 inches (26.7 x 21.6 cm), these printed in black, red, and blue with dense text punctuated by multiple black and white photographs, including of Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt at Tehran and of a petulantly contorted Hitler on the rear panel. Two things render this Second World War artifact special. The first is its excellent state of preservation. The second is the stamps at the head of the front cover. In bold red at the upper center… Read More

England, circa 1941. This homespun unsigned and undated item is an endearingly unique Second World War memento of the personal impact of the oratory of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill on the British people. This is a wartime cross-stitch sampler, elaborately reproducing and decorating words from an early wartime speech by Churchill. ChurchillÂ’s war speeches are memorialized in a host of publications, panegyrics, and awards, among them the Nobel Prize in Literature “…for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.” All of the publications and praise are merited, but can miss an essential point – the effect that ChurchillÂ’s words had on his own countrymen at a time when inspiration and resolve were not mere eloquence, but fundamental to perseverance and survival. Hence this item – this cross-stitch sampler in red, blue, gold, green, and white elaborately reproducing and decorating an excerpt from ChurchillÂ’s address of 12 June 1941. The stitched sampler features a header of… Read More

London: Heinemann & Zsolnay, Ltd., 1943. First French language edition. Paperback. This is the first French language edition of the second volume of Churchill's war speeches. The Unrelenting Struggle was published in England in 1942 with this French edition – La Lutte Sans Relache – following in 1943. The volume contains 72 speeches, broadcasts, and messages to Parliament from November 1940 to the end of 1941, some of the darkest and most uncertain days of the war. As dark and uncertain as these days were for the British, they were arguable worse for the French, whose spectacularly swift capitulation early in the war left their nation under Nazi suzerainty. Owing to the Nazi dominion over France, this first French language edition was published in London. It was issued as an attractive wraps edition, the thin card covers printed in appropriate tricolor blue, red, and white. This copy is in good plus condition, sound and complete and seemingly unread, despite some superficial wear and soiling. The… Read More

New York: George Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1890 (nd). Limited Edition. Hardcover. The Last Days of Pompeii is Lord Lytton's 1834 novel inspired by the namesake painting by Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Lytton had seen in Milan. Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–1873), was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. This is an illustrated, limited edition circa 1890 (undated) ink-stamped #478 of 500 copies on the limitation page, which characterizes the edition as "Edition de Luxe". Condition is good plus. The green cloth binding shows wear, particularly at hinges and extremities, but the original paper spine label remains intact and legible. The contents remain fairly bright, with uncut leaves. Illustrations and tissue guards remain intact. Age-toning is confined to the page edges and a hint of spotting to the first and final leaves. There is a split to the gutter paper at the rear pastedown, but the mull beneath remains firmly intact.… Read More

Fordingbridge, Hampshire: Castle Hill Press, 2004. Limited, full-morocco issue of the third English edition. Full leather. This is the beautiful Castle Hill Press limited edition of parallel French and English texts of Lawrence's first published translation, Adrien Le Corbeau's novel The Forest Giant. Of a total edition of 352, only 40 were bound thus, in full red crushed morocco with blind-ruled borders on the upper board, enclosing central pine cone design in blind, spine lettered in gilt, blind-ruled turn-ins framing marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, and housed in a red cloth slipcase. This copy is hand numbered “40” in red ink on the limitation page. Condition is truly fine, with no reportable wear or flaws. Le Gigantesque was first published in Paris in 1922. Although the Academie Francaise awarded Le Gigantesque the Montyon prize, “the novel failed to bring the author the literary recognition he so much hoped for.” Even the English-language translation remained virtually unknown to modern… Read More

New York: Hodder & Stoughton and George H. Doran Co., 1910. First U.S. edition, only printing. Hardcover. There were only 465 copies of this first U.S. first edition of Churchill's third book of speeches (following Mr. Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade), making it among the smallest issues of any Churchill first edition. This copy is noteworthy in two respects. First, it is scarce by definition, but doubly so in such strikingly good condition. Second, this was the review copy of “a major figure in American periodical journalism for nearly half a century.” This U.S. First edition was actually printed and bound in England and supplied to the New York publisher, George Doran. The smooth, burgundy cloth binding with its thin boards (possibly to keep weight down for overseas shipment) did not wear well, so superior copies are elusive. This copy is very good plus. The binding is square, tight, clean, and unfaded with bright spine gilt and sharp corners. We note minor shelf wear to the spine ends and… Read More

London: The Liberal Publication Department, 1909. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Here is the elusive first edition, only printing of Churchill's speech defining the difference between Liberalism and Socialism given in Dundee on 4 May 1908. On the rare occasions we see this very early Churchill speech pamphlet offered, it is typically removed from a bound volume. Here is not only the speech, but the bound volume. The pamphlet itself is a 4 page paper pamphlet dated "15/6/08" published by the Liberal Publication Department and printed by Strangeways & Sons. The volume in which the speech is bound is likewise published by The Liberal Publication Department and contains pamphlets and leaflets published before 16 November 1908. Liberal Publications bound volumes of this era are typically found bound in a black leather pebble grain spine over green ribbed buckram covers. Here is a less commonly seen binding variant, being bound in a dark brown quarter cloth spine over heavy gray cardboard covers. The book… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1909. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This first edition, first printing of Churchill's third book of speeches (following Mr. Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade) is the best surviving copy, retaining the most complete known example of the extravagantly rare original dust jacket. Liberalism and the Social Problem dates from Churchill's period as an ardent reformer and a dynamic young political force in the Liberal Party – three decades before he became the vaunted leader of BritainÂ’s Conservative Party. This first edition was bound in a deep red cloth stamped in gilt on the spine and featuring Churchill's gilt-stamped facsimile signature on the front cover. The illustrated dust jacket is a striking period piece, the front face printed gray on thin, white stock with the front face featuring a fuller version of the same photo of Churchill that would appear on the front cover of the wraps edition of The People's Rights published a year later. This is an iconic… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1909. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is an unusually clean and bright first edition, first printing of Churchill's third book of speeches (following Mr. Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade). Liberalism and the Social Problem dates from Churchill's period as an ardent reformer and a dynamic young political force in the Liberal Party. The British first edition is bound in a deep red cloth stamped in gilt on the spine and featuring Churchill's gilt-stamped facsimile signature on the front cover. The binding is attractive, but proved fragile, the smooth, thin cloth susceptible to wear and the spine quite susceptible to toning and dulling. Condition is very good plus. The dark red cloth binding is square, bright, and tight with strikingly bright gilt on both the front cover and spine. Shelf presentation is excellent, with only the mildest, uniform toning and light soiling. A wrinkle in the word "Liberalism" appears to be an artifact of the original binding… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1909. First edition, second printing. Wraps. This exciting find is one of only two known surviving copies of the first edition, second and final printing, softcover (wraps) issue of Churchill's Liberalism and the Social Problem, his third published book of speeches. Discovering a previously unidentified issue of a book-length work in the Churchill canon is remarkable. Churchill is one of historyÂ’s most studied and best documented figures and the bibliography of his published works is impressively thorough. Nonetheless, until we discovered copies in 2010 and 2017, no wraps issue was known for Liberalism and the Social Problem. This second copy was discovered in northeastern England in 2017 and the other in Glasgow in 2010. Despite the fact that only two copies are known, surprisingly, they differ. The rear cover of the copy discovered in 2010 lists three Hodder & Stoughton “Pamphlets for Distribution”. By contrast, the rear cover of this copy only features… Read More

Zanzibar: Printed Privately, 1944. The hand-numbered, limited, privately printed issue of the first edition. Half leather. Lillibullero or The Golden Road contains the authorÂ’s reminiscences of the colorful Tich Miles in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya in the first half of the twentieth century. Though certainly not common (the book can be fairly readily found in first and later editions) we have not previously encountered a copy thus – the numbered and limited issue of the first edition. This copy is hand numbered on the copyright page “No. 14” of 100 copies privately printed in Zanzibar in 1944, and is finely bound in half green morocco over green cloth boards with raised spine bands, gilt print and rules, head and foot bands, gilt top edge, and marbled endpapers. The author, Eric Aldhelm Torlogh Dutton (1895-1973) was a British veteran, civil servant, and writer. Dutton was educated at Oxford and served during the First World War in Gallipoli. He passed the Indian Civil Service… Read More

London: Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1906. First edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition of Churchill's biography of his father, inscribed on the day before publication to Churchill's lifelong friend, confidante, and best man at his wedding, Hugh Cecil. The unusually personal inscription inked in black in four lines on the Volume I front free endpaper recto reads: "Linky / from / Winston S.C / 1 January 1906". The ink is mildly age-toned, but remains distinct with no discernable age-spreading. The inscription page remains clean and bright. The books retain square and tight original bindings with sharp corners and nicely rounded spines. There is minor wear at the spine ends, mild sunning and staining of the spines, and a few spots on the Volume II covers. The contents are clean, bright, and complete. Spotting in both volumes is moderate, primarily confined to prelims and untrimmed page edges. Each volume is housed in its own quarter dark red Morocco goatskin Solander case, hued… Read More

Freelands, 1924. First and limited. Wraps. This privately printed, limited edition of 1924 publishes six poems by Stephens, beginning with the eponymous “Little Things”, among his best-known poems. Limited to two hundred copies and issued in string-bound grey card wraps, this is both a scarce and fragile publication. It includes a frontispiece engraving signed by the Irish artist, Power OÂ’Malley. Condition of this copy is good, nearly complete but with some inevitable signs of its age and fragility. The gray card wraps are present, as is the original binding cord, though the covers are detached from the contents. There is minor loss to the corners and clear tape reinforcement, both along a split to the upper half of the spine and securing a loose piece of the upper front cover. The contents are mildly age-toned but otherwise clean, with no spotting or previous ownership marks. James Stephens (1880?- 1950) began to contribute stores to the journal United Irishman (later Sinn Fein) in 1905, “at… Read More

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

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1925. First edition, third printing. Hardcover. This is the 1925 printing of Charmian LondonÂ’s account of her voyage with her husband, Jack, inscribed, signed, and dated by the author and featuring her bookplate. Inked in ten lines on the front free endpaper recto, Charmian wrote: “To Dr. Frank B. Kirby: The author hopes that | your life has fulsome | adventure as much to your | liking as was this one to | Jack and | Charmian London. | Glen Ellen, | California | 1929.” On the front pastedown, facing the inscription, is CharmianÂ’s illustrated bookplate. Appropriate to the title, the plate features a woman astride a horse, the pair surrounded by waves. This third printing of May 1925 followed the first of October 1915 and the second of November 1916. The book contains no other ownership marks. Condition is good plus – sound, internally clean, and complete, though showing exterior wear. The illustrated binding has a forward lean, shows light soiling and shelf… Read More

Toronto: The Copp, Clark Company, Ltd., 1900. First Canadian edition. Hardcover. This is a collector-worthy Canadian first edition of Churchill's fourth published book. Both U.S. and Canadian editions were published in June 1900. The Canadian is the scarcest of the three English-language first editions. This Canadian edition was bound in tan cloth with an illustrated front cover like its British counterpart, and is easily distinguishable by a red fleur-de-lis on the spine, thinner binding, and black title and author print. The attractive binding is prone to both hinge breaks and severe spine toning. Here is a superior example, in better than very good plus condition. The binding remains tight and square, with sharp corners. There is almost no reportable wear, with only trivial wrinkling at the spine ends. We would grade this copy as near fine with no qualifiers were it not for some of the customary spine toning endemic to this edition. Nonetheless, shelf presentation is quite respectable, the… Read More

New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900. First U.S. edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is an exceptional copy of the U.S. first edition of Churchill's fourth published book, the best-preserved copy we have encountered. London to Ladysmith via Pretoria is the first of Churchill's two books based on his newspaper despatches sent from the front in South Africa. The American edition is both distinctly different in appearance and significantly fewer in number than its British first edition counterpart; the U.S. first edition saw just a single printing of which no more than an estimated 1,850 copies were sold. As opposed to the illustrated khaki cloth of the British first edition, this U.S. edition is bound in pebble grain red cloth that proved quite susceptible to blotchy wear and soiling, particularly on the spine. This is a remarkably bright and clean copy, approaching near fine condition, almost a chimera thus. The binding is square, clean, and tight with sharp corners, vivid spine and front… Read More

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. Imagine it is November 1961. Winston S. Churchill is almost 87 years old. You write a long and earnest letter to him, seeking his signature. “Amongst books written by you, I am the proud possessor of your “LONDON TO LADYSMITH VIA PRETORIA”…To me it is the best book relating to the Boer War or any war that I have readÂ… I would very much like to have your autograph on my copy. I hesitate to trouble you, still I make bold to request you to autograph LONDON TO LADYSMITHÂ… Shall I send it to you, for that purpose?” The happy ending of the story would be to find this copy with ChurchillÂ’s signature. Instead, within we found a copy of the letter sent to Churchill and an envelope in reply from Kensington, indicating it was sent from ChurchillÂ’s Hyde Park Gate home in London just nine days later. In the envelope we found a printed card from “The Private Secretary to the Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill…” that reads… Read More

Toronto: The Copp, Clark Company, Ltd., 1900. First Canadian edition. Hardcover. This is the Canadian first edition of Churchill's fourth published book. Both U.S. and Canadian editions were published in June 1900. The Canadian is the scarcest of the three English-language first editions. This Canadian edition was bound in tan cloth with an illustrated front cover like its British counterpart, and is easily distinguishable by a red fleur-de-lis on the spine, thinner binding, and black title and author print. The attractive binding is prone to both hinge breaks and severe spine toning. Here is a respectable and sound ex-library copy. The binding is clean, tight, and square, with only modest shelf wear to extremities and mild spine toning. Nonetheless, there is a whitish rectangle below the author's name on the spine, ostensibly from removal of a library label, library number stamps on both pastedowns, the half title, and the title page, scarring from library pocket removal on the rear pastedown and… Read More