Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$121.59 + shipping
Description: FIRST EDITION, LACKS D/W, super octavo, blue buckram boards, gilt lettering to spine, top page edges stained blue, frontispiece, 466pp, VG+ (light fading to spine, sl staining to boards, light tanning & soiling to page edges, prev. owner's name in ink to front pastedown, minor tanning to prelims & terminals)
Seller: Hard to Find Books NZ (Internet) Ltd., Dunedin, OTAGO, New Zealand
Price: US$121.59 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Clean blue cloth on boards with gilt titles. Spine: lightly faded to green; thin light bumping to foot. Bumping to head of front/ rear boards fore corners which is also followed through to the rest of the top fore corner pages. Edges: lightly browned and foxings. Missing ffep. Half-title page shadowed. Frontis: b/w photograph of Winston Churchill by Steichen. Few only foxings to a few only pages margins mostly. Binding is VG+. 465p
Seller: BOOKMARK, Auckland, New Zealand
Price: US$121.79 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 8vo., 466p. ex-library. top edge dyed blue now faded, browning and some foxing to foredges, black penmark denoting withdrawal from library on bottom edge endpapers lightly browned with remnants of library labels to rear pastedown half title and title page browned and foxed, internally just light marginal browning and very occasional foxing spot, good in original blue cloth gilt with boots library sticker to upper board, stamped with an X, cloth mottled, faded and rubbed, good Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Seller: Tombland Bookshop, Norwich, NFLK, United Kingdom
Price: US$192.30 + shipping
Description: First Edition, ex library: Hardback, navy bds., gold titles, 160 x 230 mm., 900g., 464 pp., removed library sticker mark on pdfep. + a further 3 library stamps, portrait frontis, sunned spine and light edge wear, no dw., VG copy.
Seller: Stephen Wilkinson Fine Books, Near Ventnor, Isle of Wight, IOW, United Kingdom
Price: US$212.78 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Cover: blue cloth on board with gilt titles; mild rubbed wear and light dusting of soiling. Edges: old yellowing and faint few only foxing. Greying to head edge. Thin bumping to head & foot of spine. Soft rubbing and tiny bumping to fore corners. Name & 1940 to head ffep. B/w illustration of Winston S. Churchill on frontispiece. Light foxing to many pages albeit mostly to the margins. Binding is very good. 466p
Seller: BOOKMARK, Auckland, New Zealand
Price: US$265.42 + shipping
Description: London, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1938 (first edition). Octavo, 466 pages plus a frontispiece portrait. Blue cloth a little marked and unevenly sunned on the spine; ownership signature on the front free endpaper (dated 10 June 1953) and rear pastedown; small paper label of the Adelaide booksellers F.W. Preece Limited on the front pastedown; top edge dyed blue, others a little tanned; half-title and last page (a blank) offset, presumably as ever; light red pencilling to approximately half the pages (this is often no more than a short line in the margin alongside a paragraph, and it can be erased - we've done a few - but there are too many of them to bother, and on other pages several paragraphs are marked and several lines of text are underlined; notwithstanding (if you can stand it), a very good copy with the first-state dustwrapper (light blue paper printed in dark blue) creased, chipped and marked, with the spine sunned and lacking the bottom third. The British price has been clipped from the foot of the front flap, and a paper label with the Australasian price has been applied to the spine; it would appear that this price in turn became unfit for purpose and was hole-punched out. The used dustwrapper is probably much rarer than the misused book, so we'll put a price on the former, and toss the book in for the cost of the postage. 'Churchill has, during the six years 1932-38, achieved an extraordinary ascendancy in the House of Commons. This book . comprises more than forty of the speeches which he has delivered during this time on the paramount topics of foreign affairs and national defence. These speeches reveal two main consistent themes. Since as far back as 1932 Mr Churchill has been warning the House of Commons and the country of the rapidity and scale of German rearmament and of the need for Britain to rearm in the face of that menace . as the last few speeches show, he is still an optimist and believes that a way is still open whereby the peace of Europe may be saved'.
Seller: Michael Treloar Booksellers ANZAAB/ILAB, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Price: US$265.42 + shipping
Description: Compiled by Randolph S. Churchill. Pp. 466, frontispiece portrait; demy 8vo; navy cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, upper board with double rule border in blind, boards lightly marked, spine slightly faded; top edges blue/grey; pencilled ownership inscription on title page, half-title page and lower blank offset and browned, edges of leaves lightly browned; George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1938. First edition. Cohen A107; Woods A44(a). *Texts of 41 speeches by Churchill on foreign affairs and national defence, delivered between October 1928 and March 1938, mostly to the House of Commons.
Seller: Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Description: This is a jacketed British first edition, only printing of the fourth and final volume of Winston Churchill's biography of his great ancestor, John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough. This final volume covers the years 1708 to 1722, chronicling the decline of Marlborough and the apparent frustration of his work. It is a substantial 671 pages with 24 illustrations, 39 maps and plans, and 1 document facsimile. This British first trade edition is a physically impressive production. Each volume measures 9.25 x 6.25 inches (23.5 x 15.9 cm) and is roughly 2 inches thick (5 cm). Each is bound in plum cloth with beveled edges, the Marlborough coat of arms in gilt on the front cover, and a gilt top edge. Moreover, each volume is profusely illustrated. Condition of this first edition, only printing of Volume IV is near fine in a very good minus dust jacket. The plum cloth binding is square, clean, tight, and beautifully bright, with vivid gilt and only trivial shelf wear to extremities. The contents are likewise strikingly bright with a crisp, unread feel. We find no previous ownership marks. The top edge gilt is uniformly bright. Only the fore and bottom edges show mild age toning and just a trivial hint of spotting. The dust jacket is complete, with an unclipped lower front flap and no appreciable loss. The upper spine shows tiny short closed tears and wrinkling, substantially confined to the maroon border, with lesser closed tears and wrinkling to the spine heel and the bottom edge of the rear face. The spine is lightly and uniformly toned with some moisture stains and there is a superficial abrasion to the blank portion of the lower left front face above the author's printed name. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover. Marlborough was initially conceived a full 40 years before publication of the final volume. Churchill originally considered the idea of the biography in 1898, returning to it in earnest in 1928. Marlborough ultimately took 10 years of research and writing and is the most substantial published work of Churchill's "wilderness years" in the 1930s, which he spent politically isolated, often at odds with both his own party and prevailing public sentiment. This decade saw Churchill pass into his sixties with his own future as uncertain as that of his nation. It is perhaps not incidental that Churchills great work of the 1930s was about a great ancestor. Churchill may have wondered more than once if the life history he was writing might ultimately eclipse his own. Richard Langworth says "To understand the Churchill of the Second World War, the majestic blending of his commanding English with historical precedent, one has to read Marlborough." Few would accuse Churchill of objectivity. Nonetheless, as a work of history it drew high praise. Upon reading the proofs, James Lewis Garvin, editor of The Observer, wrote "I think it to be the greatest of all your works Your full brush has never had more mastery over space and colour " Two months after Volume I was published, on 12 December 1933, T.E. Lawrence wrote to Churchill: "I finished it only yesterday. I wish I had not The skeleton of the book is so good. Its parts balance and the main stream flows Marlborough has the big scene-painting, the informed pictures of men, the sober comment on political method, the humour, irony and understanding of your normal writing: but beyond that it shows more discipline and strength: and great dignity. It is history, solemn and decorative." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly for "mastery of historical and biographical description" on the strength of Marlborough, which was specifically cited and quoted by the Swedish Academy. This fourth and final volume was published almost exactly one year before the outbreak of the Second World War and Churchills return to the Cabinet to reprise his First World War role as First Lord of the Admiralty. Twenty months after this final volume was published Churchill became wartime prime minister.Reference: Cohen A97.2(IV).a, Woods/ICS A40(aa), Langworth p.166.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$314.09 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: FIRST PRINTING. HARDBACK BOUND IN THE ORIGINAL CLOTH BINDING, HALF TITLE & FRONTIS PRESENT. BOOK MEASURES APPROX 9 X 6 INCHES WITH 466 PAGES. THE USUAL MINOR FADING TO CLOTH SPINE, SEVERAL MARKS & SCRATCHES TO CLOTH BOARDS WITH SMALL AREAS OF SLIGHT FADING TO CLOTH BOARDS, PRIVATE BOOKPLATE TO FRONT ENDPAPER, HEAVY BROWNING TO HALF TITLE, OCCASIONAL LIGHT FOXING TO PAGES. OVERALL A VERY GOOD ACCEPTABLE COPY. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BOOK HAS A CLEAR REMOVABLE COVERING THAT DOES SHOW SOME REFLECTIONS IN IMAGES. EXTRA POSTAGE COSTS MAY APPLY TO OVERSEAS ORDERS. ALL BOOKS POSTED IN STURDY BOOK BOX.
Seller: Elder Books, Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, United Kingdom
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: This is a very good copy of the First English edition, without dust jacket. The cloth has faded unevenly and somewhat blotchilly. The contents are fine, with frontis photo toning to the half-title, as per usual. First English Edition (Cohen A107.1) (Woods A44a).
Seller: CHARTWELL BOOKSELLERS, NEW YORK, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: Edition : First edition., contemporary full blue cloth over board, title in gilt on flat spine. , This book highlighted the United Kingdom's lack of military preparation to face the threat of Nazi Germany's expansion and attacked the current policies of the UK government, led by his fellow Conservative Neville Chamberlain. It galvanised many of his supporters and built up public opposition to the Munich Agreement. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA (1874 ? 1965) was a British politician, army officer, and writer. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led Britain to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill represented five constituencies during his career as a Member of Parliament (MP). Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, for most of his career he was a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955, but from 1904 to 1924 was instead a member of the Liberal Party. Widely considered one of the 20th century's most significant figures, Churchill remains popular in the UK and Western world, where he is seen as a victorious wartime leader who played an important role in defending liberal democracy from the spread of fascism. Also praised as a social reformer and writer, among his many awards was the Nobel Prize in Literature. Conversely, his imperialist views and comments on race, as well as his sanctioning of human rights abuses in the suppression of anti-imperialist movements seeking independence from the British Empire, have generated considerable controversy., Size : 8vo,
Seller: Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books, Toronto, ON, Canada
CHURCHILL, WINSTON S. ARMS AND THE COVENANT. George G. Harrap ., (Kansas City), 1938.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: Spine lettered in gilt, very lightly sunned. Small bookseller sticker front pastedown (Henry Sotheran). Portrait frontispiece of the author. Half-title page browned. Internally crisp and clean throughout. A series of speeches during the period of 1928-1938 warning of the danger of rearming Germany.466pp. See Woods A44(a). Size: Demi Octavo
Seller: Glenn Books, ABAA, ILAB, Prairie Village, KS, U.S.A.
Price: US$574.75 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression; 8vo (23 x 16 cm); frontispiece; publisher's blue cloth, titles to spine gilt, ink stain to two leaves, some further soiling to several other leaves, prelims browned, spine faded, otherwise very good. One of Churchill's more important collections of essays.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$576.89 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, the working copy of the compiler, Churchill's son Randolph Churchill, with his bookplate to the front and rear pastedowns and his extensive pencil annotations and frequent excision of passages and leaves. It is probable Randolph was attacking the volume with an eye to producing an abridged edition. Seven leaves are entirely cut out, as are sections of six others; numerous pages are struck out with his pencil. Each speech is preceded by a section of relevant dates giving context. Randolph has ticked certain dates, and in one case sidelined an event and written "not this". If an abridgement was his purpose, no further such edition was published. Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes. Cohen A107.1; Woods 44a. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Photographic half-tone frontispiece of the author. Spine sunned, contents partly excised and heavily annotated (see note): an extensively-altered familial copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
CHURCHILL WINSTON S., by R. S. CHURCHILL. ARMS AND THE COVENANT. George G. Harrap & Co, 1938.
Price: US$771.54 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: RO60111192: 1938. In-8. Relié. Etat d'usage, Tâchée, Dos fané, Quelques rousseurs. 465 pages. Photo-gravure en noir et blanc en frontispice (portrait). Dos frotté et illisible. Page de faux-titre jaunie. Restes de fichettes au dos du 2e plat. Quelques pages légèrement salies. Tranche passée. Jaquette manquante. . . . Classification Dewey : 420-Langue anglaise. Anglo-saxon
Seller: Le-Livre, SABLONS, France
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: This is an extremely beautiful copy of the First English edition, without dust jacket. The cloth is uniquely unfaded, particularly along the fade-prone spine. The contents are fine, with light, scattered foxing to the fore-edge only. A discreet sticker from The [London] Times Book Club is affixed to the rear pastedown, else fine. Quite lovely. First English Edition (Cohen A107.1) (Woods A44a).
Seller: CHARTWELL BOOKSELLERS, NEW YORK, NY, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. Arms and the Covenant. George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1938.
Price: US$1150.00 + shipping
Description: This book is the precursor to Churchills great war speeches, the first edition, only printing. This particular copy is increasingly scarce thus, in the first issue dust jacket. The dust jacket has done its job protecting the book beneath, which is near fine - noteworthy for being uncommonly clean inside and out. The binding is not only square, tight, and entirely unfaded, but immaculately clean with sharp corners and virtually no wear. The contents are mildly age-toned, but retain a crisp, unread feel and show no spotting not even on the fore and bottom edges. The blue topstain retains uniform, dark hue. We note customary browning to the half-title from the pastedown glue and the illustrated bookplate of "B. D. Farquharson" affixed to the front pastedown. Overall, this is among the cleanest copies we have encountered.The first issue dust jacket shows more age and wear than the lovely book it has sheltered. The jacket spine is toned, with minor losses to the upper and center spine, and a larger, roughly .75 x .75 inch (1.9 x 1.9 cm) loss at the lower left of the spine. There are also fractional losses at the flap fold extremities, short closed tears and wrinkling to the upper rear face, and the lower front flap is neatly price-clipped. The dust jacket is protected with a clear, removable, archival cover. Arms and the Covenant has been called " the permanent record of one mans unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency" and "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published." (Frederick Woods) The book contains text from 41 Churchill speeches spanning 25 October 1928 to 24 March 1938. These criticize British foreign policy and warn prophetically of the coming danger. The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British turned, but it is easy to forget the years leading up to the war, which Churchill spent persistent, eloquent, and largely unheeded, often at odds with both his own political party and prevailing public sentiment.The speeches were compiled by Churchill's son, Randolph, who contributed a preface and is credited with compilation. Randolph would do the same for his father's first volume of war speeches, Into Battle, published in an almost unrecognizable world less than three years later. The "Covenant" in the title of Arms and the Covenant refers to the League of Nations Covenant, the instrument that was to maintain peace in the wake of the First World War. As testimony to the book's importance, a copy of the U.S. edition lay on "President Roosevelt's bedside table, with key passages, including an analysis of the president's peace initiative, underscored" (William Manchester's The Last Lion, Volume II, p.305). The British first edition saw only a single printing of 5,000 copies published on 24 June 1938 and of these, perhaps as few as 3,381 were issued in the distinctive pale blue dust jacket.Reference: Cohen A107.1. Woods/ICS A44(a), Langworth p.191.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. Arms and the Covenant. George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1938.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: This book is the precursor to Churchills great war speeches, the first edition, only printing. This particular copy is increasingly scarce thus, in the first issue dust jacket. Condition is good plus in a good dust jacket. The navy cloth binding is square, clean and tight with only minor shelf wear to extremities. The only sunning corresponds to jacket losses at the upper and lower spine and upper and lower front face, confirming that this book and its dust jacket have always been paired. The contents retain a crisp feel and spotting is minor. Nonetheless, we do note age toning, dog-eared corners at the leaves spanning pages 433-446, and fading as well as a light moisture stain to the top edge of the text block (which does not intrude whatsoever upon the inner margins). The sole previous ownership mark is a tiny bookseller sticker affixed to the lower rear pastedown of "Thorburn & Abbott Ld. Booksellers" of "Ottawa Ont." Thorburn and Abbott was reportedly a well-known new and antiquarian bookstore in Ottawa from 1860 to the late 1930's, implying that this book was likely sold new by them when published in 1938. The pale blue first state dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price. The only losses of note are an irregular strip at the spine head to a maximum depth of .5 inch (1.27 cm) and a 1 x .75 inch (2.54 x 1.91 cm) triangular loss at the bottom edge of the front face. The corners and spine heel also show minor chipping and short closed tears, there is some overall soiling, and the spine is toned and faintly stained. There are a few small pieces of archival tape applied to the verso of the jacket to stabilize closed tears and chips. The dust jacket is now protected beneath a removable, clear, archival cover.Arms and the Covenant has been called " the permanent record of one mans unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency" and "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published." (Frederick Woods) The book contains text from 41 Churchill speeches spanning 25 October 1928 to 24 March 1938. These criticize British foreign policy and warn prophetically of the coming danger. The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British turned, but it is easy to forget the years leading up to the war, which Churchill spent persistent, eloquent, and largely unheeded, often at odds with both his own political party and prevailing public sentiment.The speeches were compiled by Churchill's son, Randolph, who contributed a preface and is credited with compilation. Randolph would do the same for his father's first volume of war speeches, Into Battle, published in an almost unrecognizable world less than three years later. The "Covenant" in the title of Arms and the Covenant refers to the League of Nations Covenant, the instrument that was to maintain peace in the wake of the First World War. As testimony to the book's importance, a copy of the U.S. edition lay on "President Roosevelt's bedside table, with key passages, including an analysis of the president's peace initiative, underscored" (William Manchester's The Last Lion, Volume II, p.305). The British first edition saw only a single printing of 5,000 copies published on 24 June 1938 and of these, perhaps as few as 3,381 were issued in the distinctive pale blue dust jacket.Reference: Cohen A107.1. Woods/ICS A44(a), Langworth p.191.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. Arms and the Covenant. George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1938.
Price: US$1600.00 + shipping
Description: This book is the precursor to Churchills great war speeches, the first edition, only printing. This particular copy is increasingly scarce thus, in the first issue dust jacket. This copy is very good in a very good minus dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is beautifully square, clean, bright, and tight with sharp corners and vivid spine gilt. We note only a hint of sunning at the spine tips. The contents retain a crisp, unread feel. Trivial spotting appears confined to the endpapers, half-title, and the blank frontispiece recto. The sole previous ownership markings are initials and a surname, neatly and diminutively inked on the upper right half-title recto. The fore and bottom edges are clean apart from modest age-toning. The blue-stained top edges are uniformly dulled. This copy would merit "very good plus" or better if not for a missing front free endpaper. This has been neatly but fully removed, so that the contents begin at the half-title, which shows customary transfer browning corresponding to the dust jacket flaps.The dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price, and substantially complete, with tiny losses confined to the flap fold and joint extremities. The spine is moderately toned and soiled and the faces and flap folds show some spotting. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.Arms and the Covenant has been called " the permanent record of one mans unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency" and "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published." (Frederick Woods) The book contains text from 41 Churchill speeches spanning 25 October 1928 to 24 March 1938. These criticize British foreign policy and warn prophetically of the coming danger. The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British turned, but it is easy to forget the years leading up to the war, which Churchill spent persistent, eloquent, and largely unheeded, often at odds with both his own political party and prevailing public sentiment.The speeches were compiled by Churchill's son, Randolph, who contributed a preface and is credited with compilation. Randolph would do the same for his father's first volume of war speeches, Into Battle, published in an almost unrecognizable world less than three years later. The "Covenant" in the title of Arms and the Covenant refers to the League of Nations Covenant, the instrument that was to maintain peace in the wake of the First World War. As testimony to the book's importance, a copy of the U.S. edition lay on "President Roosevelt's bedside table, with key passages, including an analysis of the president's peace initiative, underscored" (William Manchester's The Last Lion, Volume II, p.305). The British first edition saw only a single printing of 5,000 copies published on 24 June 1938 and of these, perhaps as few as 3,381 were issued in the distinctive pale blue dust jacket.Reference: Cohen A107.1. Woods/ICS A44(a), Langworth p.191.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1602.48 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, in the very scarce Australian/New Zealand issue dust jacket, of this important collection of Churchill's speeches on foreign policy, given during his "wilderness years" 1928 to 1938. This copy is from the collection of Churchill's bibliographer Ronald Cohen. "Copies sold in Australia and New Zealand bore a pasted-on sticker on the spine of the dust jacket indicating the published price there" (Cohen); the jacket flap is here price-clipped (presumably as issued), and has the new price sticker on on the spine panel, here obscured with a mounted slip. The speeches warned of the dangers of a re-armed Germany, the threat of Hitler and Mussolini, and the inevitable failure of a policy of appeasement. These warnings were unpopular and largely unheeded, but soon proved to be remarkably prescient. The collection was also published later that year in America as While England Slept. Provenance: Ronald Cohen, with his ownership inscription in pencil on the front free endpaper. Cohen's Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, published in three volumes in 2006, is the authoritative source for collectors, librarians, and dealers. Cohen A107.1 (see "notes" for this issue). Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket, price clipped as issued with overprice sticker to spine panel. Photographic half-tone frontispiece of the author. Melbourne bookseller's ticket to front pastedown, contents a little toned; jacket price-clipped (likely as issued), a little toned and spotted, a few tiny peripheral chips. A near-fine copy in very good jacket.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Winston S. Churchill. Arms And The Covenant. George G. Harrap, 1938.
Price: US$1875.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Wonderful Sangorsk & Sutcliff Binding ( burgundy Morocco fain at spine gold page edges around very tight and unused Raised bands on spine Portrait frontis
Seller: Arader Galleries of Philadelphia, PA, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Description: pp. 465. 8vo. Bound in navy cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Publisher's topstain. Portrait frontispiece. Some general shelfwear, a couple of bumps, spine dry, offsetting to half-title and rear endpaper (often seen in this edition and presumably from binder's glue), ink name, contents otherwise unmarked; very good in the original, unclipped pale blue dustjacket which shows discolouration to the spine, some scuffing, and chips and tears at edges. "Each speech is preceeded by its individual divisional half-title and diary of events". Only 5000 copies of this edition were printed. Woods A44(a).
Seller: BISON BOOKS - ABAC/ILAB, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 466 p. 23 cm. Frontispiece portrait of Churchill. Blue cloth hardcover in mylar-covered rare yellow dustjacket. Jacket has light soiling and small tears. Spine darkened with chip at head. Front flap unclipped. Ink inscription on front free endpaper is that of J. L. Rudd, 345 Island Park Drive, Ottawa, who signed Dec. 9 1940. Discolouration to half-title and rear leaf. Faint offsetting to title. These speeches, published just after he became prime minister, are the precursors to Churchill's great war speeches. Spanning the years 1928 to 1938, the speeches criticize British foreign policy and warn of the upcoming danger of another war. The world will always remember the resolute war leader to whom Britain turned when facing invasion, but many forget the years leading up to World War II when Churchill made impassioned, eloquent and largely unheeded warning speeches about the increasing power of Nazi Germany. Only 5,000 copies of this first and only Britiish impression were printed, of which at least 3,381 and maybe more than 4,000 were sold with a pale blue first state dustjacket. The balance were offered at a lower sprice in June 1940 with this striking yellow jacket, making it the "cheap" issue. However, given that Churchill had just become prime minister in May, when the world was at last realizing the truth of his repeated warnings, this might be called the "He Was Right, After All" issue. When this copy was signed by its previous owner in Ottawa in December of 1940, many people were turning to Churchill's words for knowledge and perhaps comfort. Even President Roosevelt is said to have had a copy of the US edition of this book on his bedside table, with key passages underlined.
Seller: Attic Books (ABAC, ILAB), London, ON, Canada
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Description: This is the precursor to Churchill's great war speeches, the British first edition in the rare yellow dust jacket issued just after Churchill became Prime Minister. The book contains text from 41 Churchill speeches spanning 25 October 1928 to 24 March 1938. These criticize British foreign policy and warn prophetically of the coming danger that would become the Second World War.5,000 copies were printed of this first and only printing of the first edition. Of these 5,000, at least 3,381 and perhaps more than 4,000 were sold with the pale blue, first state dust jacket. The balance - no more than 1,619 copies and quite likely fewer - were offered at a lower price in June 1940 bearing a striking yellow dust jacket. Because the price was reduced with the yellow dust jacket, this has often been called by bibliographers the "Cheap" issue. Given that Churchill had just become Prime Minister in May 1940, it might be more fittingly called the "I Told You So" issue. The yellow dust jackets were issued on laid paper printed red on the front face and spine with a blank rear face and rear flap. Given the inherent sensitivities of the yellow paper and red print, the paper is quite susceptible to soiling and the red spine lettering is nearly always quite faded. Today these yellow, wartime dust jackets are rare, considerably scarcer than their pale blue first issue counterparts.This is a very good plus copy in a good plus dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is square, tight, bright, and clean, with sharp corners and only trivial hints of shelf wear to extremities. The only sunning is mild, confined to the spine ends, matching small losses to the dust jacket. The contents are quite clean for the edition, with only a few instances of spotting confined to the fore edges. The top edges show shelf dust, the fore and bottom edges minor soiling and age-toning. The sole previous ownership mark is contemporary a name and inked date of "Sept. 1940" on the upper front free endpaper recto. Laid in we found six Churchill-related newspaper clippings, only two of which are dated - 1944 and 1947.The dust jacket shows overall soiling, wear to extremities, an uneven price clip at the lower front flap, and a one inch (2.5 cm) closed tear to the upper rear face. The spine ends and flap fold corners show shallow chipping, the most significant at the upper left spine head to a maximum depth of .5 inch (1.3 cm) and consuming the "Com" in "Compiled by | RANDOLPH S. | CHURCHILL". The spine is inevitably toned, but only mildly, the red spine print faded but still quite clearly legible. The front face yellow hue and red print remain bright. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British turned, but it is easy to overlook Churchills "wilderness years" in the 1930s. The Churchill who delivered the speeches in this book was both eloquent and largely unheeded, most often out of power and out of favor, and routinely at odds with both his own Conservative Party leadership and prevailing public sentiment.This book was published three months before the morally specious and politically futile concessions of the Munich Agreement which, of course, Churchill vehemently opposed. Arms and the Covenant has been called " the permanent record of one mans unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency" and "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published." (Frederick Woods) The titular "Covenant" refers to the League of Nations Covenant, intended to maintain peace after the First World War. "As testimony to the book's importance, a copy of the U.S. edition (less subtly titled While England Slept) lay on "President Roosevelt's bedside table, with key passages, including an analysis of the president's peace initiative, underscored" (William Manchester's The Last Lion, Volume II, p.305). Reference: Cohen A107.3, Woods/ICS A44(a), Langworth p.192
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2117.50 + shipping
Description: First edition, colonial issue; 8vo, (23 x 16 cm); frontispiece, letter from Government House (Australia) tipped in, leaves a little toned but otherwise unmarked internally; publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine, dark topstain, watermark to top edge, earliest state pale blue dust jacket, UK price clipped from jacket, Australian label applied to spine, some spotting to jacket, spine toned, overall a very good copy; 466pp. First edition. This copy is a colonial issue, sold by A.H. Spencer of Melbourne and with UK price clipped from jacket. A letter from Government House, Australia, confirms its status together with the Australian label applied to spine. The first edition comprised only 5000 copies, with this example in the earliest state pale blue dust jacket, published June 1938.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$2850.00 + shipping
Description: This is the precursor to Churchill's great war speeches, the British first edition in the striking yellow dust jacket issued just after Churchill became Prime Minister. The book contains a collection of speeches spanning the years 1928 to 1938 criticizing British foreign policy, Churchills warnings and exhortations both prophetic and largely unheeded. 5,000 copies of this first and only British impression were printed, of which at least 3,381 and perhaps more than 4,000 were sold with the pale blue, first state dust jacket. The balance - no more than 1,619 copies and quite likely fewer - were offered at a lower price in June 1940 featuring a yellow dust jacket. Because the price was reduced with the yellow dust jacket, this has often been called by bibliographers the "Cheap" issue. Given that Churchill had just become Prime Minister in May 1940, it might be more fittingly called the "I Told You So" issue. The yellow dust jackets were issued on laid paper printed red on the front face and spine with a blank rear face and rear flap. Given the inherent sensitivities of the yellow paper and red print, the paper is quite susceptible to soiling, typically suffers losses to extremities, and the red spine lettering is nearly always quite faded. Today these yellow, wartime dust jackets are quite scarce, considerably more so than their pale blue first issue counterparts.While not fine, this is the best overall copy we have encountered. Most notable, the yellow dust jacket is entirely complete retaining the original lower front flap price and with no loss. Moreover, while the red spine print suffers some sunning, it remains distinct and clearly legible, rendering shelf presentation quite impressive. The completeness of the jacket and legibility of the red spine print more than compensates for the overall soiling. Trivial wear is confined to extremities. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover. The volume beneath is very good plus. The binding is compellingly fresh square, clean, bright, and tight with sharp corners, vivid spine gilt, and no appreciable wear or blemishes. The contents are less impressive than the binding but still quite good clean with a crisp, unread feel despite some mild age-toning. Differential toning to the endpapers corresponding to the dust jacket flaps confirms what the lovely binding already testifies that this copy has spent life jacketed. We find no previous ownership marks. Light spotting appears confined to the first and final leaves. A rectangle of differential toning to the title page indicates that a news clipping or something similar now lost was long laid in. The blue topstain is uniformly dulled.The book is housed in a full navy Morocco goatskin Solander with round spine and silver print. Condition of the Solander is fine, with no wear, soiling, or fading.The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British turned, but it is easy to overlook Churchills "wilderness years" of the 1930s, which Churchill spent out of power and out of favor, persistently warning about the growing Nazi threat and routinely at odds with both his own Conservative Party leadership and prevailing public sentiment. The Churchill speeches herein have been called " the permanent record of one mans unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency" and "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published". The speeches were compiled by Churchill's son, Randolph, who contributed a preface and is credited with compilation. Randolph would do the same for his father's first volume of war speeches, Into Battle, published in an almost unrecognizable world less than three years later. The esoteric title Arms and the Covenant references the failed Covenant of the post-WWI League of Nations. It is instructive and apropos that the U.S. edition was given a more candid title While England Slept. Reference: Cohen A107.3, Woods/ICS A44(a), Langworth p.192.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2884.47 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, very handsomely bound, of this important collection of Churchill's speeches from 1928 to 1938, warning of the dangers of a re-armed Germany. Cohen A107; Woods 44a Octavo. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in burgundy morocco, titles to spine with lion centre tools in compartments, raised bands, roll to turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Frontispiece portrait. Slight browning to half-title an excellent copy in a fine binding.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$3200.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of this collection of speeches, signed by Churchill's son Randolph, who was the editor of this volume. Octavo, original cloth, photographic frontispiece of Churchill. Signed on the front free endpaper, "Inscribed by Randolph S. Churchill." In near fine condition. All but two of the speeches collected here were delivered by Churchill in the Commons in the years leading up to the Second World War. Collected by Churchill's son, Randolph, and revised a second time by Churchill, these represent some of the best written by a man who "devoted more time than any other modern orator to the preparation of his speeches" (Langworth, 190). "The finest (and most ominous) pre-war warning of Winston Churchill occurs on [its] penultimate page⦠Available in no other Churchill book⦠the last four paragraphs of that famous speech on 24 March 1938⦠summarize the theme of this volume, a precursor to the official theme of The Gathering Storm: 'How the English-speaking peoples through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to re-arm" (Langworth, 190).
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$3845.96 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, scarce in the dust jacket, of this important collection of Churchill's speeches on foreign policy, given during his "wilderness years" 1928 to 1938. This copy is from the collection of Churchill's bibliographer Ronald Cohen. The speeches warned of the dangers of a re-armed Germany, the threat of Hitler and Mussolini, and the inevitable failure of a policy of appeasement. These warnings were unpopular and largely unheeded, but soon proved to be remarkably prescient. The collection was also published later that year in America as While England Slept. Provenance: Ronald Cohen, with his ownership inscription in pencil on the front free endpaper. Cohen's Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, published in three volumes in 2006, is the authoritative source for collectors, librarians, and dealers. Cohen A107.1; Woods 44a. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Photographic half-tone frontispiece of the author. Inscription to front free endpaper "To Iris from Neilson 31.8.1938" (shortly after publication in late June); later generic bookplate to front pastedown (with space for owner to write their name, here blank). Half-title a little toned else book square and fresh; jacket with very minor nicks and tiny chips at extremities, spine panel a little toned, short split at head of rear fold and rear flap fold neatly taped on verso, head of rear panel a little creased, unclipped: a fine copy in very good jacket.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$7627.82 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition:First Printing:Book Condition:A Very Good/Near Fine copy, very gently bumped top and bottom of the spine, corners very gently rubbed, spine very gently toned, top edges of front and rear boards very gently toned, page edges very gently toned, front and rear end papers very gently toned, signed and dated by WINSTON S.CHURCHILL "From Winston S. Churchill 1946" to the half title page, internally very clean and bright, tight binding.A very scarce copy Signed by Winston S.Churchill not his son Randolph.
Seller: Bawnmore Fine and Rare Books, Rugby, United Kingdom