Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
John Masefield. THE NINE DAYS WONDER. William Heinemann, London, 1941.
Price: US$16.11 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: THE NINE DAYS WONDER John Masefield. William Heinemann & Co Ltd., London 1941 Reprint 62pp plus plates and fold out map. This copy is in fine unmarked condition bright and tight. Bound in blue cloth covered boards with gilt titling to the spine. The unclipped dust wrapper is typically spotted and has a small 2mm area of loss to the base of the spine. The Dunkirk evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo, also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 27 May and 4 June 1940. The operation was decided upon when large numbers of British, French, and Belgian troops were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France in the Second World War. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the events in France "a colossal military disaster", saying that "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. In his We shall fight on the beaches speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance". This edition includes Masefield's stirring account of the salvation of the B.E.F. the involvement of the 'Little Boats' and includes the first appearance of four poems by the then Poet Laureate. Ref JJ2
Seller: Amazing Book Company, Liphook, United Kingdom
Churchill , Winston S.. Blood , Sweat , and Tears. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1941.
Price: US$20.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Speeches, May, 1938 to February, 1941. Follows WHILE ENGLAND SLEPT.Includes the " Blood, Sweat, and Tears " speech as the title implies.
Seller: The History Place, Palestine, TX, U.S.A.
Churchill, Winston.. Blood, Sweat, & Tears.. Putnam, 1941., 1941.
Price: US$20.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: 462p. His speeches in the Commons May 1938 to February 1941. Red cloth. Heavy. Lettering bright. Fine Copy
Seller: Military Books, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Price: US$20.00 + shipping
Description: Book-of-the-Month Club edition. North American title of Into Battle . Brick red cloth lettered in gilt, decorated in blue, gilt and blind-stamping. Cream dust jacket printed in red and blue, very lightly soiled on spine. With flyer with WSC photo, re-printing the Book-of-the-Month Club News article on the book, laid in. Described by Langworth as "a rare example of a book club edition bound more nicely than its trade counterpart."
Seller: Wilfrid M. de Freitas - Bookseller, ABAC, Montreal, QC, Canada
Churchill, Winston S.. Blood, Sweat, And Tears. McClelland & Stewart Limited, Toronto, 1941.
Price: US$20.25 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: NAP. Light bumping to spine extremities and top corners. Previous owner's name and date on front flyleaf. Rubbing with short tears in DJ spine extremities and corners. 1/4" chip in rear top DJ corner. Some rubbing to DJ flap folds and down spine edges. Some edgewear with a few 1/2" mostly closed tears to dj. ; WHH20C; 525 pages
Seller: Crossroad Books, Eau Claire, WI, U.S.A.
Churchill, Winston. Blood, Sweat & Tears.. Putnams, 1941., 1941.
Price: US$26.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: 462p. War speeches. Jacket missing one flap. Fine/Fair
Seller: Military Books, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Churchill, Winston S.. Blood, Sweat, and Tears. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1941.
Price: US$39.38 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 462, frontis illus.
Seller: Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
Churchill , Winston S.. Blood , Sweat , and Tears. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1941.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Speeches, May, 1938 to February, 1941 following the WHILE ENGLAND SLEPT volume. Previous owner's bookplate on inside front board and name and gift inscription on front endpaper. Otherwise, a very good copy .
Seller: The History Place, Palestine, TX, U.S.A.
Churchill , Winston S.. Blood , Sweat , and Tears. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1941.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Speeches, May, 1938 to February, 1941 following the WHILE ENGLAND SLEPT volume. Includes the "Blood, Sweat, and Tears " speech. An excellent copy.
Seller: The History Place, Palestine, TX, U.S.A.
Churchill , Winston S.. Blood , Sweat , and Tears. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1941.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Speeches, May, 1938 to February, 1941 following the WHILE ENGLAND SLEPT volume. Includes the " Blood, Sweat, and Tears "' speech. Previous owner's bookplate has been removed from inside front board, date remains. Otherwise, an excellent copy.
Seller: The History Place, Palestine, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Description: This Second World War leaflet describes Britains air raid procedures as part of the British Library of Informations continued attempt to inform and sway the American people. Though no publication date is stated, WorldCat lists this as a 1941 publication, produced before America entered the war. The text is printed on both sides of a single piece of paper that was folded in half to create a large, four-page leaflet. Condition is very good given the age, size, and inherent fragility. The paper is bright and crisp with some browning to the edges of the first page, some light soiling to the rear cover, two short closed tears to the fore-edge, and a horizontal crease through the center. The rear cover is a secondary bit of history, advertising other British Library of Information publications "Available upon Request" including "Womens War Work", "Britain in Time of War", "Britains Blockade", "The British System of Social Security", "Compulsory Military Service in Great Britain", and a number of "Speeches by the Prime Minister Winston Churchill". Late 1940 or early 1941 publication is substantiated by the fact that the final Churchill speech publication offered is that of 5 November 1940. The British Library of Information was a branch of the British Foreign Office created in 1919 as a means of both monitoring and cultivating the relationship between the United States and Great Britain. During the Second World War, the agency produced dozens of pamphlets, leaflets, posters, and other pieces of propaganda to distribute in America with the intent to "reveal the political determination of the British government to bring the inspiration and steadfastness of the prime minister and the British nation to an American nation not yet engaged in the war." (Cohen, Volume I, p.513) Although Churchill would secure significant American material aid and forge a vital bond with President Roosevelt, America would not formally enter the war until after the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. When Churchill became Prime Minister on 10 May 1940, the war for Britain was not so much a struggle for victory as a struggle to survive. Churchills first year in office saw, among other near-calamities, the Battle of the Atlantic, the fall of France, evacuation at Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain. Engaging the sympathy and comity of the American people was not mere propaganda, but a dire necessity. In 1942, following Americas formal entry into the war, The British Library of Information was absorbed by British Information Services (BIS), the information department of the British Consulate in New York.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$56.56 + shipping
Description: CHURCHILL, Winston S. Blood Sweat and Tears : Speeches by the Right Honourable Winston S. Churchill, P.C., M.P. Compiled by Randolph S. Churchill, M.P. Tor.: McClelland & Stewart, (1941). Pp (4),v-viii,(2),3-488,frontis. 8vo, red cloth, t.e.stained red. Spadoni & Donnelly 1257. Name partially expunged, else vg in browned, rubbed and chipped dj. 75.00
Seller: John W. Doull, Bookseller, Dartmouth, NS, Canada
Winston S. Churchill. Into Battle. Cassell and Company Ltd., London, 1941.
Price: US$75.00 + shipping
Description: This is a jacketed British first edition, ninth printing, of the first volume of Winston S. Churchill's famous war speeches. Into Battle contains Churchills speeches from May 1938, when Churchill was still out of favor and out of power, to November 1940, six months after Churchill became wartime Prime Minister. Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. The British first editions are visually striking, but were printed on cheap "War Economy Standard" paper, bound in coarse cloth, and wrapped in bright, fragile dust jackets. They proved highly susceptible to spotting, soiling, and fading, so the passage of time has been hard on most surviving first editions. In this first war speeches volume the great battle of the twentieth century and Churchill's life begins.There were twelve printings of this edition. This ninth printing was issued in January 1942, less than a year after the first printing, and is quite similar in appearance, the binding the same as the first printing, as are both faces and the spine of the dust jacket. Condition is very good in a good dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is unfaded, square, and tight, with sharp corners, bright spine gilt, and only minor wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents are bright with modest spotting primarily confined to the first and final leaves and the otherwise bright page edges. The sole previous ownership mark is contemporary a book plate affixed to the front pastedown and hand-dated "21.8.42". The dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price. Minor loss is confined to the spine ends, which were reinforced from the verso by a previous owner with what appears to be strips from a donor dust jacket. The spine is a bit toned and the jacket shows moderate overall wear, but is nonetheless respectably clean. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly " for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Reference: Cohen A142.1.j, Woods/ICS A66(a.9), Langworth p.204.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$100.48 + shipping
Description: Hardback in dust wrapper (blue boards with gilt titling to the spine) Physically 8¾" x 5¾" (1 kg); 313pp; 2nd edition, 1st printing, first published the same year. Includes: Frontispiece; || The book is on my shelves and will be carefully packed and posted from the pastoral paradise of Peasedown St. John, Bath, by a real bookseller in a real book shop - with my personal guarantee and my beady eye on the Consumer Contracts Regulations. REMEMBER! Buying my copy means the bookshop Jack Russells get their supper! My Book #197584|| Condition: Good in Poor Dust Wrapper. Dust wrapper heavily worn at the edges with much loss. Gently bruised at the head, tail and corners of the binding. Previous owners' name and address to the pastedown. Edges of the textblock heavily spotted. The contents lightly toned with age with a little, mostly marginal, spotting throughout.
Seller: BookLovers of Bath, Peasedown St. John, BATH, United Kingdom
Winston S. Churchill. Into Battle. Cassell and Company Ltd., London, 1941.
Price: US$120.00 + shipping
Description: This is a jacketed British first edition, first printing, first state of the first volume of Winston S. Churchill's famous war speeches. Into Battle contains Churchills speeches from May 1938, when Churchill was still out of favor and out of power, to November 1940, six months after Churchill became wartime Prime Minister. Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. The British first editions are visually striking, but were printed on cheap "War Economy Standard" paper, bound in coarse cloth, and wrapped in bright, fragile dust jackets. They proved highly susceptible to spotting, soiling, and fading, so the passage of time has been hard on most surviving first editions. In this first war speeches volume the great battle of the twentieth century and Churchill's life begins.There were twelve printings of this edition. This first printing, first state, is confirmed by missing pagination on pages 78 and 294. The binding is a smoother blue cloth variant, which in our experience is exclusively associated with the first state of the first printing. Condition is good plus in a fair dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is unfaded, square, and tight, with bright spine gilt. We note minor shelf wear to extremities, including wrinkling and light abrasion to the spine ends. The contents are bright with a crisp feel and no previous ownership marks. Spotting is light to the first and final leaves, heavy only to the text block edges. The first printing dust jacket is entirely complete, with no appreciable loss and unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price. The jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price, and retains an unfaded spine, but is quite worn and soiled, with various losses to the spine ends, edges, flap folds, and joints, the white rear face soiled and spotted. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly " for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Reference: Cohen A142.1.a, Woods/ICS A66(a.1), Langworth p.204.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Donahue, Arthur Gerald. Tally-Ho! Yankee in a Spitfire. The Macmillan Company, 1941.
Price: US$131.50 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 2nd printing. Spine a bit faded, minimal loss form top jacket edge, jacket price clipped. 1941 Hard Cover. 190 pp. 8vo. Black-and-white photographic frontispiece and plates. 'The Immortal speech of Winston Churchill to Parliament in 1940 as the Battle of Britain raged above the skies of England is well-known: 'The gratitude of every home in our island, in our Empire and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen, who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few'. However not all of the pilots that flew in the Battle of Britain were actually from the U.K.; many came from the Dominions; Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa or nations overrun by the Nazis; Poles, Czechs, Free French. So direly needed was every pilot that a blind eye was turned on the nationality of the applicant for Fighter Command; one such man was Arthur 'Art' Donahue, an American hailing from the corn fields of Minnesota. Donahue was a humble and unprepossessing man, but despite his self-effacing nature his bravery in joining 'The Few' during their time of greatest need is a testament to his keen sense of justice. Having been a pilot for some years before joining he was almost immediately thrown into the frontline fighting and in short order downed a BF 109, the 'ratlike' Messerschmitt that hunted the skies. His luck did not hold for long in the frenzied fighting in the skies as he was shot down and badly burnt facially. Amazingly he decided after a brief recuperation to get 'back in the saddle' and was flying again with 64 Squadron in the melee in the air. His recounts his experiences with wit, humility and frank honesty; a valuable historical memoir of one of the famous airmen that saved Britain, it is all the more poignant as two years later he was shot down over the English Channel and his body was never recovered.
Seller: Yesterday's Muse, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA, Webster, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$140.00 + shipping
Description: This is an original Second World War press photograph of British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill addressing a parade of civil defence workers at a civil defence demonstration in London on 14 July 1941. The gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper measures 9.5 x 7.5 in (24.13 x 19.05 cm). Condition is very good plus, with no appreciable wear or soiling. The verso features two ink-stamps, the first indicating that the copyright was held by "Planet News Ltd." of London, the second showing that the photograph was "Received" on "14 JUL 1941". A n original, typed caption affixed to the verso is titled "PRIME MINISTER REVIEWS LONDONS CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICES." The caption reads: "Mr. Winston Churchill reviewed Britains | biggest Civil Defences demonstration in | Hyde Park, when 6,000 A.R.P. workers took | part in the display, which included a | mammoth water carnival of all types of | fire-fighting appliances, and all kinds of | Civil Defence vehicles were on show. | PHOTO SHOWS: Mr. Churchill addresses the parade of Civil Defence workers. | AND. 14th July, 1941 PN-L." Air Raid Precautions from the Civil Defence Service were an important part of the civilian volunteer organization which included the ARP Wardens Service as well as firemen, fire watchers, rescue, first aid post, and stretcher parties. During the Second World War, more than 1.9 million people served in the organization and nearly 2,400 lost their lives. This same day, at a luncheon by the London County Council at the County Hall after the review of the Civil Defence Services in Hyde Park, Churchill delivered his "Do your worst and we will do our best" speech of 14 July 1941.On 14 July 1941, Churchill was just a little more than a year into his wartime premiership, the United States was still a long five months from entering the war, and Britains position was still precarious. Churchills first year in office saw, among other near-calamities, the Battle of the Atlantic, the fall of France, the evacuation at Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain, with both sustained aerial attacks on civilian populations of London and other cities and the real prospect of Nazi invasion of England. Churchills speech of 14 July followed a review in Hyde Park of the "many grades and classes the wardens, the rescue and first-aid parties, the casualty services, the decontamination squads, the fire services, the report and control centre staffs, the highways and public utility services, the messengers, the police" of the Civil Defence Services. Churchill acknowledged that the Civil Defence Services "have grown up in the stress of emergency" and "been shaped and tempered by the fire of the enemy". In his speech, Churchill used this review as a tangible symbol of the preparedness, endurance, and resolve of Britain generally and London particularly. Churchill encapsulated the speech in the line delivered as a direct challenge to Hitler: "You do your worst and we will do our best." Far from a passive call for resistance, this line was immediately followed by "Perhaps it may be our turn soon; perhaps it may be our turn now."This press photo once belonged toa newspapers working archive. During the first half of the twentieth century, photojournalism grew as a practice, fundamentally changing the way the public interacted with current events.Newspapers assembled expansive archives, including physical copies of all photographs published or deemed useful for potential future use, their versos typically marked with ink stamps and notes providing provenance and captions. Today these photographs exist as repositories of historical memory, technological artifacts, and often striking pieces of vernacular art.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. Into Battle. Cassell and Company Ltd., London, 1941.
Price: US$150.00 + shipping
Description: This is a jacketed British first edition, first printing, first state of the first volume of Winston S. Churchill's famous war speeches, containing his speeches from May 1938, when Churchill was still out of favor and out of power, to November 1940, six months after Churchill became wartime Prime Minister.Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. The British first editions are visually striking, but were printed on cheap "War Economy Standard" paper, bound in coarse cloth, and wrapped in bright, fragile dust jackets. They proved highly susceptible to spotting, soiling, and fading, so the passage of time has been hard on most surviving first editions. In this first war speeches volume the great battle of the twentieth century and Churchill's life begins.There were twelve printings of this edition. This first printing, first state, is confirmed by missing pagination on pages 78 and 294. The binding is a smoother blue cloth variant, which in our experience is exclusively associated with the first state of the first printing. Condition is good plus in a good dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is square and tight, with wrinkling and a touch of fraying to the spine ends. The contents retain a crisp feel, despite some age-toning. An original "Book Society" bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown. Spotting is light and intermittent throughout, heavier only to the page edges. The first printing dust jacket is unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price. The jacket shows overall toning and wear with loss to the spine extremities, and lesser losses to the edges. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly " for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Reference: Cohen A142.1.a, Woods/ICS A66(a.1), Langworth p.204.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$150.00 + shipping
Description: This intriguing bit of Second World War ephemera is an original Second World War card, produced in Canada, undated but presumably produced in 1941. The card features images and quotes from U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill.The card is printed on a single sheet measuring 12.5 x 9.5 inches folded once horizontally and once vertically to form panels of 6.25 x 4.75 inches. On the cover panel, in red, blue, and gold, are printed American and British flags with an encircled maple leaf medallion between them reading "GREETINGS FROM CANADA". Above the medallion are two clasped hands and above that an arched proclamation "UNITED WE STAND". On the left interior panel are images of Roosevelt and Churchill. Below Roosevelts image is the Longfellow quote he sent to Churchill on 27 January 1941 and below Churchills image is his 9 February reply to Roosevelt. On the right interior panel is an unattributed quote "We shall not fail or falter, | And of this we may be sure: | The cause of Right will triumph | And Freedom will endure | While Freemen stand together, | One for all and all for one, | In the task to save Democracy | Until the job is done!" On the rear panel is printed "MADE IN CANADA". Condition of this card is very good, modestly worn and wrinkled but complete and respectably clean. On the lower right interior panel is written "To Edie & Arthur | From Bee." On the lower right rear panel is written "34122".On Saturday, February 8th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lend-Lease Bill by 260 to 165 Votes. It had yet to pass the Senate and be signed by President Roosevelt, but a major hurdle absolutely crucial to the British had been passed. Churchill learned of the welcome news at Chequers (the country residence of the British prime minister) and later that day received a farewell visit from Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's emissary and a critical advocate and shaper of the Lend Lease Program. Hopkins discussed with Churchill many points in this speech that Churchill would deliver the following evening, which Hopkins noted had 'American public opinion' as 'the principle [sic] target'. (Gilbert, Vol. VI, pp. 1007-09) Churchill's February 9 broadcast to Britain and the Empire was his first broadcast for five months. Near the end of his remarks, Churchill quoted verse from a Longfellow poem which President Roosevelt had written out in his own hand and sent to Churchill on January 27: "Sail on, O Ship of State! | Sail on, O Union, strong and great! | Humanity with all its fears, | With all the hopes of future years, | Is hanging breathless on thy fate." Churchill concluded with his answer to President Roosevelt: "Put your confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing, and under Providence all will be well. We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job." The quotes on the left interior panel of this card are from this exchange between Roosevelt and Churchill.The United States enacted the Lend Lease Act in early March and soon thereafter extended its naval security zone several thousand miles into the Atlantic, effectively shielding much of the Atlantic convoy route.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$150.81 + shipping
Description: CHURCHILL, Winston S. Blood Sweat and Tears : Speeches by the Right Honourable Winston S. Churchill, P.C., M.P. Compiled by Randolph S. Churchill, M.P. Tor.: McClelland & Stewart, (1941). Pp (4),v-viii,(2),3-488,frontis. 8vo, red cloth, t.e.stained red. Spadoni & Donnelly 1257. Vg in lightly rubbed and nicked dj (one inch closed tear). 200.00
Seller: John W. Doull, Bookseller, Dartmouth, NS, Canada
Price: US$175.00 + shipping
Description: contemporary full red gilt cloth board., The phrase "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" became famous in a speech given by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 13 May 1940; a speech on 13 May 1940 to the House of Commons after having been offered the King's commission the previous Friday, to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the first year of World War II. Churchill had replaced Neville Chamberlain on 10 May, and in this speech he asked the House to declare its confidence in his Government. The motion passed unanimously. This was the first of three speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France, which commenced on 10 May.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
Winston S. Churchill. Blood Sweat, and Tears. Dominion Book and Bible House., Toronto, 1941.
Price: US$175.00 + shipping
Description: contemporary full blue cloth over boards, title in gilt on flat spine and the upper board, gilt bordered box the upper board containing the author?s name, side edges uncut., Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (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., , The phrase "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" became famous in a speech given by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 13 May 1940; a speech on 13 May 1940 to the House of Commons after having been offered the King's commission the previous Friday, to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the first year of World War II. Churchill had replaced Neville Chamberlain on 10 May, and in this speech he asked the House to declare its confidence in his Government. The motion passed unanimously. This was the first of three speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France, which commenced on 10 May. , References : Ref. Richard Langworth, Canadian Edition: ICS A66ca
Seller: Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$180.00 + shipping
Description: This original press photograph captures Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill delivering a speech at the 27 March 1941 Conservative and Unionist Associations Central Council Meeting in London. The gelatin silver print on heavy matte photo paper measures 9.5 x 11.5 in (24.2 x 29.2 cm). Condition is very good minus. The paper is clean, crisp, and free of scratches with some edge wear (most noticeable at the left and bottom edges), two short closed tears to the left edge and a crease to the bottom left corner. This press photo once belonged to the working archive of the Evening Standard and features original hand-applied retouching to the figures faces and clothes. The verso bears the copyright stamp of "The Evening Standard", a received stamp dated 27 MAR 1941, handwritten printing notations, and a clipping of the caption as it was published reading, "Mr. Churchill speaking at to-days Conservative meeting Evening Standard exclusive picture." That Churchill became his Partys leader was anything but inevitable and born far more of wartime exigency than confident mutual regard. It requires little imagination to read some skeptical reservation on the faces beside and behind Churchill captured in this image. Churchill warred with his own Conservative Party throughout the 1930s. By the time of then-Prime Minister Neville Chamberlains 1938 Munich concessions to Hitler, so vehement was Churchills dissent with his own Party leadership that Churchill had effectively become leader of the opposition. Nonetheless, on 10 May 1940 he became Prime Minister not of a Conservative government, but of a wartime Coalition government. Churchill would not head a Conservative government until his second and final premiership of 1951-1955. In the meantime, the first year of Churchills wartime premiership for Britain was not so much a struggle for victory as a struggle to survive. His first year in office saw, among other near-calamities, the Battle of the Atlantic, the fall of France, evacuation at Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain. Churchill could take nothing for granted, including the support of his own Conservative Party. Fortunately for Churchill, this Party Council meeting occurred just days after Churchill was able to announce a vital material lifeline for Britain in the form of American approval of the Lend-Lease Act. Moreover, "Britains air defences now "mitigated the full horror of earlier night attacks"". (Gilbert, Vol. VI, p.1035) And on the day this image was captured, 27 March 1941, "Churchills confidence was boosted by the completion in Washington of the United States-British Staff Conversations, which had culminated in Joint Basic War Plan Number One of the United States and the British Commonwealth for war against the Axis Powers". (Gilbert, Vol. VI, p.1044) Photographs like this provide poignant, tangible evidence of Churchills formidable prowess as an orator a skill used to great effect during the Second World War when Churchill "mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." (Edward R. Murrow) Here Churchill is captured making the case for his Partys continued support in his coalition government. Churchill reminded his audience "The reason why His Majesty entrusted me in May last with the formation of a Government was because it was an almost universal opinion that national unity must be established in order to face the dangers by which we were encompassed." Churchill deftly salved wounds by praising Neville Chamberlain for "greatest assistance" and "perfect loyalty". Later in the speech Churchill reminded his Party both for the need for the present Government and his place at its head: "I said that the Government was formed in a dark hour and there was worse to come. But I cannot pretend to you, my friends and supporters, that I took up my task with any other feeling than that of invincible confidence. That is the feeling which inspires me here to-day." (Complete Speeches, Vol. VI, p. 6365)
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$187.50 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: This is a first edition copy of Into Battle: Speeches by the Right Hon. Winston S. Churchill P.C., M.P. by former British Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill, compiled by Randolph S. Churchill. The book is in near fine condition and is bound in its original blue cloth cover. THe pages have some spotting on the edges, but its unclear if its actual spotting or just coloration due tot eh grain of paper used.
Seller: Antiquarian Book Company, Miami, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Description: This scarce pamphlet is the first published appearance of Winston S. Churchill's speech of 16 June 1941, early in Churchills Second World War premiership and nearly half a year before the United States formally entered the war. The speech was broadcast from 10 Downing Street on the occasion of Churchill receiving an Honorary Degree of Laws from the New York State's University of Rochester. Churchill had assumed the Premiership just a year earlier on 10 May 1940. By 16 June 1941, Churchill had led his nation for a frightful, solitary year since the fall of France. Britain would continue to stand alone against Hitler's Germany until the United States formally entered the Second World War after the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.Courting American empathy and support was of critical importance. In particular, severe merchant shipping losses to German U-Boats in April and May of 1941 were a spur "to press continually for a wider American contribution to Britain's war effort." (Gilbert, Vol. VI, p.111) Churchill's speeches conveyed the political determination of the British government and steadfastness of the British people to an American nation not yet fully engaged in the war. Given that Churchills mother was born in Rochester and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had served as Governor of New York State, this Broadcast address to a New York University, which might otherwise seem obscure, was a timely opportunity.In his speech Churchill spoke of "sense of kinship and of unity", and of his ancestral connection to Rochester. Nearly every sentence of Churchill's remarks limned common heritage, values, and purpose, all the while conveying British resolve to prevail: "For more than a year, we British have stood alone uplifted by your sympathy and respect, sustained by our own unconquerable will power and by the increasing growth and hopes of your massive aid. Whatever happens, we shall endure to the end." This speech was eventually published in His Complete Speeches as "The Old Lion".The title comes from the speech's penultimate paragraph: Now the old lion. stands alone against hunters who are armed with deadly weapons and impelled by desperate and destructive rage." The speech concludes striking the balance between Britain's resolve and urgent need: ".time is short. Every month that passes adds to the length and the perils of the journey that will have to be made. United we can save and guide the world." Clearly, the intended American audience was broader than Rochester. Four days later, on 20 June, Churchill telegraphed Roosevelt thanking him for establishment of trans-Atlantic "Ferry Service" using American Army pilots and American-manned staging posts with servicing facilities and assuring the President that "There will be no weakening here."The pamphlet measures 9.25 x 6 inches (23.5 x 15.25 cm), bound in wire-stitched, laid watermarked card wraps, both the front wrap and contents with untrimmed edges. The contents number 23 pages. Churchill's full address is printed at pages 7-9, preceded by his portrait photograph at page 6. The balance of the pamphlet contains a Foreword, the degree presentation by University President Alan Valentine, excerpts from an address by Eve Curie (daughter of Marie Curie), excerpts from an address by Robert P. Patterson (Roosevelt's Under Secretary of War), and a list of honorary degrees conferred in 1941.Condition is very good plus. The covers are complete and firmly attached, both binding staples rusted but tight. The covers show light soiling and spotting. This is an elusive item. This copy survived proximate to its source, coming to us courtesy of an upstate Upstate New York bookseller.Reference: Cohen D80, Woods D(b)53/1.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$201.54 + shipping
Description: London, 1941 (the first volume, first edition) and Melbourne, 1942 to 1947 [Volumes 2-6, all first Australian editions]. Octavo; six volumes; cloth; occasional light flecks and bumps; top edge of Volume 5 foxed; Volume 2 lacks the leaf of (two) plates facing page 152; an excellent run with dustwrappers on all but the first volume (the last four a little chipped, the second one also a little marked and with minor loss to the front panel).
Seller: Michael Treloar Booksellers ANZAAB/ILAB, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Description: This is the first edition, only printing of Churchill's January 9, 1941 speech to the Pilgrims Society (referred to as "the Pilgrims" in the title on the cover) welcoming Lord Halifax as British Ambassador to the United States. Founded in 1902, the Pilgrims Society is an Anglo-American organization whose objective is "the encouragement of Anglo-American good fellowship" a fellowship acutely vital to Britain in January 1941.The folded, four-panel leaflet measures 6 x 9 inches (15.2 x 22.9 cm), the speech printed on the first three pages. Condition is near-fine. The leaflet is complete with virtually no wear. We note slight age-toning to the perimeter and a hint of spotting along the lower left edge of the front cover and two small spots on the rear cover. The leaflet is protected within a clear, removable, archival mylar sleeve.Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (1881-1959) became British Ambassador to the United States after the sudden death of Lord Lothian in December 1940. Halifax, then the Foreign Secretary, was appointed only after both Lloyd George and Oliver Lyttelton had been considered, and is an example of the many personalities and considerations Churchill balanced in his wartime coalition government. In choosing the architect of Chamberlain's appeasement policy as ambassador to the one nation Britain most desperately needed to join the war, Churchill is reported as reasoning that Halifax "would never live down his reputation for appeasement which he and the Foreign Office had won themselves" and that "He had no future in this country. On the other hand he had a glorious opportunity in America, for, unless the United States came into the war, we could not win, or at least we could not win a really satisfactory peace." (Gilbert, Volume VI, pages 952-953) Halifax reluctantly accepted the appointment, allowing the return of Anthony Eden to the Foreign Secretary post, which he had resigned in 1938 in opposition to Chamberlain's appeasement policy. Halifax served as Ambassador to the U.S. until May 1946. In this address to the Pilgrims Society, Churchill calls Halifax "a man of light and learning" and, perhaps anticipating the effect of his new ambassador's pro-appeasement history, Churchill says: "I have often disagreed with him in the twenty years I have known him, but I have always respected him and his actions because I know that courage and fidelity are the essence of his being." Of the critical relationship between Britain and America, Churchill states: "The identity of purpose and persistence of resolve prevailing throughout the English-speaking world will, more than any other single fact, determine the way of life which will be open to generations, and perhaps to centuries, which follow our own."This leaflet is one in a series of Churchill's speeches printed by the British Library of Information in New York. The British Library of Information published thirty-four editions of statements, speeches, and broadcast addresses by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (that number including some variant publications of the same speeches), beginning with his first speech as Prime Minister of 13 May 1940 and ending with the broadcast address of 29 November 1942. These editions were often issued within two or three days of delivery and "reveal the political determination of the British government to bring the inspiration and steadfastness of the Prime Minister and the British nation to an American nation not yet engaged in the war. Indeed, twenty-two of the BLOI speech pamphlets were published before Pearl Harbor." (Cohen, Volume I, p.513, A120)Reference: Cohen A139, Woods A65
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Description: 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 hint of soiling along the left and bottom edges and a small rust stain at the lower left front cover where it apparently lay against another pamphlet, causing light offsetting. The leaflet is protected within a clear, removable, archival mylar sleeve.John "Gil" Gilbert Winant (1889-1947) was the 45th U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He succeeded the pro-appeasement Joseph Kennedy and marked a decidedly different, pro-Britain, pro-alliance perspective than his predecessor. Upon arriving in England on 2 March 1941, Winant announced "I'm very glad to be here. There is no place I'd rather be at this time than in England." Churchill would conclude his 18 March 1941 welcoming remarks to Winant "You, Mr. Ambassador, share our purpose. You'll share our dangers. You'll share our interests. You shall share our secrets. And the day will come when the British Empire and the United States will share together the solemn but splendid duties which are the crown of victory."Less than nine months after Churchill gave this speech, Winant was with Churchill when the latter learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor, precipitating formal U.S. entry into the war. Winant would serve as U.S. Ambassador until 1946. Winant reportedly had an affair with Churchill's daughter, Sarah. Both of Winant's sons served in WWII, John. Jr. as a B-17 pilot in the Eighth Air Force who became a prominent German prisoner of war.This leaflet is one in a series of Churchill's speeches printed by the British Library of Information in New York. The British Library of Information published thirty-four editions of statements, speeches, and broadcast addresses by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (that number including some variant publications of the same speeches), beginning with his first speech as Prime Minister of 13 May 1940 and ending with the broadcast address of 29 November 1942. These editions were often issued within two or three days of delivery and "reveal the political determination of the British government to bring the inspiration and steadfastness of the Prime Minister and the British nation to an American nation not yet engaged in the war. Indeed, twenty-two of the BLOI speech pamphlets were published before Pearl Harbor." (Cohen, Volume I, p.513, A120)Reference: Cohen A144, Woods A68
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$275.00 + shipping
Description: This is the first edition, only printing of Churchill's January 9, 1941 speech to the Pilgrims Society (referred to as "the Pilgrims" in the title on the cover) welcoming Lord Halifax as British Ambassador to the United States. Founded in 1902, the Pilgrims Society is an Anglo-American organization whose objective is "the encouragement of Anglo-American good fellowship".This first edition, only printing of Churchill's January 9, 1941 speech is a four-page folded paper leaflet measuring 9 x 6 inches (22.9 x 15.2 cm) and printed on the first three pages. This example is in near fine condition, particularly given the age and inherent fragility of the format. The pamphlet is crisp and complete, with no spotting, no previous ownership marks, and no appreciable wear. Minor toning shows at the perimeter of the covers, trivial soiling at the top edges of the covers. The leaflet is protected within a removable, clear, archival mylar sleeve. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (1881-1959) became British Ambassador to the United States after the sudden death of Lord Lothian in December 1940. Halifax, then the Foreign Secretary, was appointed only after both Lloyd George and Oliver Lyttelton had been considered, and is an example of the many personalities and considerations Churchill balanced in his wartime coalition government. In choosing the architect of Chamberlain's appeasement policy as ambassador to the one nation Britain most desperately needed to join the war, Churchill is reported as reasoning that Halifax "would never live down his reputation for appeasement which he and the Foreign Office had won themselves" and that "He had no future in this country. On the other hand he had a glorious opportunity in America, for, unless the United States came into the war, we could not win, or at least we could not win a really satisfactory peace." (Gilbert, Volume VI, pages 952-953) Halifax reluctantly accepted the appointment, allowing the return of Anthony Eden to the Foreign Secretary post, which he had resigned in 1938 in opposition to Chamberlain's appeasement policy. Halifax served as Ambassador to the U.S. until May 1946. In this address to the Pilgrims Society, Churchill calls Halifax "a man of light and learning" and, perhaps anticipating the effect of his new ambassador's pro-appeasement history, Churchill says: "I have often disagreed with him in the twenty years I have known him, but I have always respected him and his actions because I know that courage and fidelity are the essence of his being." Of the critical relationship between Britain and America, Churchill states: "The identity of purpose and persistence of resolve prevailing throughout the English-speaking world will, more than any other single fact, determine the way of life which will be open to generations, and perhaps to centuries, which follow our own." This pamphlet is one in a series of Churchill's speeches printed by the British Library of Information in New York. The British Library of Information published thirty-four editions of statements, speeches, and broadcast addresses by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (that number including some variant publications of the same speeches), beginning with his first speech as Prime Minister of 13 May 1940 and ending with the broadcast address of 29 November 1942. These editions were often issued within two or three days of delivery and "reveal the political determination of the British government to bring the inspiration and steadfastness of the Prime Minister and the British nation to an American nation not yet engaged in the war. Indeed, twenty-two of the BLOI speech pamphlets were published before Pearl Harbor." (Cohen, Volume I, p.513, A120)Reference: Cohen A139, Woods A65
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Description: This is the first edition, only printing of Churchill's broadcast speech of 27 April 1941 - Churchill's famous "Westward, Look, the Land is Bright" speech in which he praises the resolve and heroism of the British people. Condition is near fine and impressive thus given the fragility of the format. The pamphlet is crisp and complete, both binding staples intact with only slight surface corrosion. The covers show only light overall age-toning and minor creasing to the lower front corner. The pamphlet is protected within a clear, removable archival sleeve. Churchill made the broadcast from Chequers, a rousing and reasoned reassurance to the British people delivered during retreat and evacuation from Greece under General Wavell. Churchill spoke of having recently visited "some of our great cities and seaports which had been most heavily bombed" and finding that "where the ordeal of the men, women and children has been most severe . I found their morale most high and splendid." Typically, even as he spoke of "an exaltation of spirit in the people" Churchill mixed practical information on the war and admonition that "There is only one thing certain about war, that it is full of disappointments and also of mistakes." Churchill spoke of fronts in Greece, Yugoslavia, Libya, and the Atlantic and of increased American commitment and support. The United States had recently passed the Lend Lease Act and extended its naval security zone several thousand miles into the Atlantic, effectively shielding much of the Atlantic convoy route. Churchill placed recent challenges in context, stating "Nothing that is happening now is comparable in gravity with the dangers through which we passed last year." Churchill famously concluded his remarks with eight lines of verse from a poem by Arthur Hugh Clough that Churchill first heard and learned by heart before the First World War. (Gilbert, Volume VI, p.1022). The moving words provided the title by which this speech came to be known. As a token of esteem, Charles Scribner, Churchill's former American publisher, located the manuscript version of the poem ("Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth") and arranged to have it presented to Churchill in July 1941. (Cohen, Volume I, pages 570-571) This leaflet is one in a series of Churchill's speeches printed by the British Library of Information in New York. The British Library of Information published thirty-four editions of statements, speeches, and broadcast addresses by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (that number including some variant publications of the same speeches), beginning with his first speech as Prime Minister of 13 May 1940 and ending with the broadcast address of 29 November 1942. These editions were often issued within two or three days of delivery and "reveal the political determination of the British government to bring the inspiration and steadfastness of the Prime Minister and the British nation to an American nation not yet engaged in the war. Indeed, twenty-two of the BLOI speech pamphlets were published before Pearl Harbor." (Cohen, Volume I, p.513, A120)Reference: Cohen A145, Woods A70
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. While England Slept. G.P. Putnams Sons, New York, 1941.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Description: This is the precursor to Churchill's great war speeches, the U.S. first edition, fourth and final printing in dust jacket, published in September 1941, sixteen months after the author became wartime Prime Minister of Great Britain.This fourth printing was issued in 1941 (despite the 1938 date on the title and copyright pages). Even though this final printing was only 1,000 copies, two different variants of both the dust jacket and the binding are known. The fourth printing bindings were issued in both a smooth blue cloth identical to the first, second, and third printings and a strikingly different coarse orange cloth unique to the fourth and final printing. Fourth printings came in two dust jackets - one identical to that of the third printing and another with changes to the rear face and rear flap. This fourth printing is bound in the publisher's blue cloth and wrapped in the dust jacket identical to that of the third printing - the variant closest in appearance to that of the first printing.This is a handsome book, a substantial 9.5 x 6.375 inches (25.13 x 16.19 cm) bound in blue cloth with red banners on the front cover and spine lettered in silver and red topstain. This is an attractive, very good plus copy in a good plus dust jacket. The blue cloth binding remains beautifully square, clean, bright, and tight, flawed only by lightly softened front cover corners and a little wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents are equally impressive, immaculately clean with no spotting or previous ownership marks. The fore and bottom edges are perfectly clean and the red-stained top edge retains uniformly bright color. The distinctive red, white, and black dust jacket is neatly price-clipped at the upper front flap, but otherwise complete, though with wrinkling and short closed tears to extremities, the red spine panels sunned, and mild soiling to the white rear face. The dust jacket is newly fitted with a clear, removable, archival cover.While England Slept contains text from 41 Churchill speeches criticizing British foreign policy, spanning 25 October 1928 to 24 March 1938. This collection has been called " the permanent record of one mans unceasing struggle in the face of resentment, apathy, and complacency". 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. At the time, on the eve of the Second World War, the British edition was given the politically palatable title Arms and the Covenant referencing the failed Covenant of the post-WWI League of Nations. The U.S. title While England Slept - is more candid. The world remembers the resolute war leader to whom the British entrusted their fate, but it is easy to forget the years leading up to the war, which Churchill spent persistent, eloquent, and largely unheeded. Churchill bibliographer Frederick Woods called this edition "probably the most crucial volume of speeches that he ever published". As testimony to the book's importance, a copy of 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, The Last Lion, Volume II, p.305)Bibliographic reference: Cohen A107.2.d, Woods/ICS A44(b.4). Langworth p.193. U.S. first edition, fourth and final printing.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. Into Battle. Cassell and Company Ltd., London, 1941.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Description: This is a jacketed British first edition, first printing of the first volume of Churchill's famous war speeches, containing speeches from May 1938, when Churchill was still out of favor and out of power, to November 1940, six months after Churchill became wartime Prime Minister. There were twelve printings of this edition. This is the first printing, first state, identified by Churchill bibliographer Ronald Cohen as missing pagination on pages 78 and 294. The binding is a smoother blue cloth variant, which in our experience is exclusively associated with the first state of the first printing. Condition is very good plus in a very good plus dust jacket. The blue binding is tight, clean, and bright, modest shelf wear confined to wrinkling at the spine ends and bumped lower corners. The contents are atypically bright for the edition; we find no spotting and the contents retain a crisp, unread feel. The sole previous ownership mark is the original "Book Society" bookplate with the original owner's name inked thereon. The first printing dust jacket is unusually bright and complete. The lower front flap is unclipped, retaining the original publisher's price, both the front panel and spine retaining vivid orange-red hue with only the slightest color shift, and trivial chip losses are confined to extremities. Scuffing and soiling are mild. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly " for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. In this first war speeches volume the great battle of the Twentieth Century and Churchill's life beginsReference: Cohen A142.1.a, Woods/ICS A66(a.1), Langworth p.204.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Winston S. Churchill. Into Battle. Cassell and Company Ltd., London, 1941.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Description: This is a superior, jacketed British first edition, first printing, first state of the first volume of Winston S. Churchill's famous war speeches. Into Battle contains Churchills speeches from May 1938, when Churchill was still out of favor and out of power, to November 1940, six months after Churchill became wartime Prime Minister. Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. The British first editions are visually striking, but were printed on cheap "War Economy Standard" paper, bound in coarse cloth, and wrapped in bright, fragile dust jackets. They proved highly susceptible to spotting, soiling, and fading, so the passage of time has been hard on most surviving first editions. In this first war speeches volume the great battle of the twentieth century and Churchill's life beginsThere were twelve printings of this edition. This first printing, first state, is confirmed by missing pagination on pages 78 and 294. The binding is a smoother blue cloth variant, which in our experience is exclusively associated with the first state of the first printing. Condition is near fine in a very good plus dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is unfaded, square, and tight, with sharp corners, bright spine gilt, and minor wrinkling to the spine ends. The contents are uncommonly bright with a crisp, unread feel, no previous ownership marks, and no spotting. The first printing dust jacket is entirely complete, with no appreciable loss and unclipped, retaining the original lower front flap price. The jacket is unusually clean, despite mild, uniform spine toning. Minor wear, tiny closed tears, and attendant wrinkling are confined to the spine ends, upper front face, and flap fold corners. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly " for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Reference: Cohen A142.1.a, Woods/ICS A66(a.1), Langworth p.204. First edition, first printing, first state.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Churchill, Winston S.. Into Battle. London Cassell 1941, 1941.
Price: US$483.10 + shipping
Description: A first edition, first printing published by Cassell in 1941. A very good with previous owner's bookplate to the front endpaper. Spotting throughout and to the page edges. No inscriptions. In a very good (much better than is usually encountered) dust wrapper which is unclipped and has one small chip to the head of the front panel and two smaller chips to the rear panel. Spotting to the rear panel. "Into Battle" is a collection of stirring wartime speeches and essays by Winston Churchill, reflecting his leadership during World War II. Churchill's eloquence and resolve shine through as he inspires courage and determination in the face of adversity. Through vivid language and profound insights, he rallies the British people and allies to persevere against tyranny. These timeless speeches capture Churchill's indomitable spirit and remain emblematic of his role as a pivotal figure in history's greatest conflict.
Seller: John Atkinson Books ABA ILAB PBFA, Harrogate, United Kingdom
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: This is a quite rare wartime speech pamphlet featuring Churchill's "Give us the tools and we will finish the job" speech of February 9, 1941. Churchill's speech is published here with one other - Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King's February 2, 1941 message broadcast to the people of Canada. On Saturday, February 8th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lend-Lease Bill by 260 to 165 Votes. It had yet to pass the Senate and be signed by President Roosevelt, but a major hurdle absolutely crucial to the British had been passed. Churchill learned of the welcome news at Chequers (the country residence of the British prime minister) and later that day received a farewell visit from Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt's emissary and a critical advocate and shaper of the Lend Lease Program. Hopkins discussed with Churchill many points in this speech that Churchill would deliver the following evening, which Hopkins noted had 'American public opinion' as 'the principle [sic] target'. (Gilbert, Vol. VI, pp. 1007-09) Churchill's February 9 broadcast to Britain and the Empire was his first broadcast for five months. Near the end of his remarks, Churchill quoted verse from a Longfellow poem which President Roosevelt had written out in his own hand and sent to Churchill on January 27: "Sail on, O Ship of State! | Sail on, O Union, strong and great! | Humanity with all its fears, | With all the hopes of future years, | Is hanging breathless on thy fate." Churchill concluded with his answer to President Roosevelt: "Put your confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing, and under Providence all will be well. We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the job." The United States enacted the Lend Lease Act in early March and soon thereafter extended its naval security zone several thousand miles into the Atlantic, effectively shielding much of the Atlantic convoy route. This speech pamphlet is unusual in several respects - its publication, its survival, and its superlative condition. Per Churchills bibliographer, Ronald Cohen (pages 530-32), the publisher - Universal Life Assurance and Annuity Company - was in business from 1902 to 1942. In an exuberant surge of patriotism, the company published over 40 booklets in the "Universal Life for Victory Series", a few of which were speeches by Churchill. Apparently, there were copyright concerns in the office of the Prime Minister, as well as with his British and Canadian publishers. Prickly correspondence was exchanged, but also some correspondence recognizing the propaganda value of Universal Life's efforts. Eventually the matter was closed. This copy, a noteworthy survivor, is in exceptional, truly fine condition. The pamphlet is bound in wire-stitched paper wraps, measures 6 inches x 3.5 inches (15.2 x 8.9 cm), and is 32 pages in length. Churchill's speech occupies all of pages 3 through 17, with excerpts from Roosevelt's message to Churchill and Churchill's reply at page 2, and excerpts from Churchill's June 4, 1940 speech at page 18 under the heading "A Briton's Creed." The paper wraps remain bright, clean, complete, and firmly attached. The binding staples remain firm and show no corrosion. The contents are pristine. The pamphlet is protected in a removable, archival mylar sleeve. Reference: Cohen A143.5
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Description: This is a handsome piece of Churchilliana, an illustrated jug produced by Copeland/Spode in 1941. It was produced under wartime restrictions. One side of the pitcher features a cameo of Churchill with a warship to his left, a tank to his right, and a fighter aircraft above him. In an arc above the aircraft slightly misquoted is a line from Churchills 13 May 1940 speech: "ALL I CAN OFFER IS BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS, AND SWEAT." Below Churchills image is a ribbon bearing a quote from his speech of 20 August 1940: "NEVER IN THE FIELD OF HUMAN CONFLICT WAS SO MUCH OWED BY SO MANY TO SO FEW". This example is in very good condition, complete with no chips or cracks, more than compensating for overall crazing and a few trivial stains. The pitcher was likely created by the companys own designers, since noparticular artist is credited with it in Spodes records. There were various iterations of the pitcher, with the side described above constant but the other side of the pitcher varying significantly in appearance. This pitcher is Pattern F448, identified by a bulldog on a Union Flag bestriding a globe with theBritish Empire shown in dark color. Over and under the design is the February 1941 exchange of quotes between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. In a ribbon below the globe, Roosevelt quotes Longfellow: "SAIL ON, O SHIP OF STATE! | SAIL ON O UNION STRONG AND GREAT | HUMANITY WITH ALL ITS FEARS | WITH ALL THE HOPES OF FUTURE YEARS | IS HANGING BREATHLESS ON THY FATE!" Churchills reply appears above and to the left of the globe: "GIVE US THE TOOLS. | AND WE WILL FINISH THE JOB!" This particular example is the one for the U.S.A. market, approximately 6.5 inches tall with a 4 inch diameter opening. The bottom bears the "COPELAND" maker's mark as well as the words "U.S.A. DESIGN | PATENT PENDING". The rear design is an interesting study in Transatlantic sensitivities. "The UK design featured crossed British and American flags. The original crossed flag design conforms to conventional flag etiquette, with the home country's on the left; but American usage would require the Stars and Stripes at left." Hence just the bulldog astride the Union Jack. "The Spode Museum believes this consideration caused the bulldog design to be substituted, though Spode might have done better to keep the original. That globe showing the Empire served nicely to remind Americans how much of the world belonged to Great Britain - not exactly the best way to influence the die-hard isolationists" among the American electorate and their elected representatives.Please anticipate that packing and shipping this item with care may incur additional shipping cost.Reference: Douglas Hall, Churchilliana, pp.146-7, Max Edward Hertwigs article in Finest Hour, Issue 116, Autumn 2002, Page 36
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Description: This is a handsome piece of Churchilliana, an illustrated jug produced by Copeland/Spode in 1941. It was produced under wartime restrictions. One side of the pitcher features a cameo of Churchill with a warship to his left, a tank to his right, and a fighter aircraft above him. In an arc above the aircraft slightly misquoted is a line from Churchills 13 May 1940 speech: "ALL I CAN OFFER IS BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS, AND SWEAT." Below Churchills image is a ribbon bearing a quote from his speech of 20 August 1940: "NEVER IN THE FIELD OF HUMAN CONFLICT WAS SO MUCH OWED BY SO MANY TO SO FEW". This is a superior example, in fine condition, clean inside and out with no appreciable soiling, no chips, and only modest crazing, visible under raking light. The pitcher was likely created by the companys own designers, since noparticular artist is credited with it in Spodes records. There were various iterations of the pitcher, with the side described above constant but the other side of the pitcher varying significantly in appearance. This pitcher is Pattern F448, identified by a bulldog on a Union Flag bestriding a globe with theBritish Empire shown in dark color. Over and under the design is the February 1941 exchange of quotes between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. In a ribbon below the globe, Roosevelt quotes Longfellow: "SAIL ON, O SHIP OF STATE! | SAIL ON O UNION STRONG AND GREAT | HUMANITY WITH ALL ITS FEARS | WITH ALL THE HOPES OF FUTURE YEARS | IS HANGING BREATHLESS ON THY FATE!" Churchills reply appears above and to the left of the globe: "GIVE US THE TOOLS. | AND WE WILL FINISH THE JOB!" This particular example is the one for the U.S.A. market, approximately 6.5 inches tall with a 4 inch diameter opening. The bottom bears the "COPELAND" maker's mark as well as the words "U.S.A. DESIGN | PATENT PENDING". The rear design is an interesting study in Transatlantic sensitivities. "The UK design featured crossed British and American flags. The original crossed flag design conforms to conventional flag etiquette, with the home country's on the left; but American usage would require the Stars and Stripes at left." Hence just the bulldog astride the Union Jack. "The Spode Museum believes this consideration caused the bulldog design to be substituted, though Spode might have done better to keep the original. That globe showing the Empire served nicely to remind Americans how much of the world belonged to Great Britain - not exactly the best way to influence the die-hard isolationists" among the American electorate and their elected representatives.Please anticipate that packing and shipping this item with care may incur additional shipping cost.Reference: Douglas Hall, Churchilliana, pp.146-7, Max Edward Hertwigs article in Finest Hour, Issue 116, Autumn 2002, Page 36
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$675.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Printing In Book Form Of The Prime Minister's Famous War Speeches. One Of 250 Copies Printed By The Grabhorns (For Ransohoffs, San Francisco). White Linen Spine With Gilt Leather Spine Label, And Blue Cloth Boards. Finely Printed By The Grabhorns On Fine Paper With Deckled Edges. 16" X 10 3/4". A Fine Copy, No Wear Or Foxing Or Stains, Spine Label Complete And With Brilliant Gilt. Traces Of Rubbing Right Along Top And Bottom Edges Of Boards. Clear Dj Is 3/16" Taller Than Book, No Wear Or Tears Or Chips.
Seller: Arroyo Seco Books, Pasadena, Member IOBA, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: 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. Churchills 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 Churchills 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 Churchills address of 12 June 1941. The stitched sampler features a header of flowers and British flags bracing Churchills famous "V" sign succeeded by a famous (mis)quote: "Lift up your hearts, all will come right. Out of depths of sorrow and suffering will be born again the glory of mankind." Churchill actually said "sacrifice", not "suffering". The misquote adds a certain charm and infers that the maker likely recalled the words or quoted them from an inaccurate contemporary news source. Recollection seems likely, given the prominent place of the "V" at the top center of the piece. While it may have been stitched as a generic symbol for Victory, it was Churchill who rendered the symbol iconic. "Churchill was first seen to use the V-sign in August 1941 It became the symbol of the "V for Victory" campaign." (Hall, Finest Hour 158, p.32)This cross-stitch sampler is set in a 18 x 14 inches (45.7 cm x 35.6 cm) brown wood window-box frame. with gilt inner and outer edges. The sampler measures 16 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm). Condition is very good, particularly given the age, material and humble origins. The cloth shows minor spotting, likely owing to the thick card stock to which it has long been adhered, but is otherwise clean. The colors remain bright. The wood frame shows minor wear to extremities, but presents well and nicely suits the piece. This item will be packed with care and shipped at cost. The (mis)quoted stitching excerpts part of Churchills speech at the conference of Dominion High Commissioners and Allied Countries ministers on 12 June 1941 delivered "in the drawing room of bomb-scarred St. Jamess Palace." In attendance were representatives of Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa and of the exiled governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Yugoslavia and General de Gaulle of France.When Churchill became Prime Minister on 10 May 1940, the war for Britain was not so much a struggle for victory as a struggle to survive. Churchill had been in office for little more than a year when he spoke the words stitched here. The first year of Churchills wartime premiership saw, among other near-calamities, the Battle of the Atlantic, the fall of France, the evacuation at Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain, with both sustained aerial attacks on civilian populations of London and other cities and the real prospect of Nazi invasion of England. Although we can appreciate and even admire Churchills oratory, it is difficult to achieve a visceral understanding of how his words likely resonated with many of his countrymen at the time. This artifact is a personal and personalized testimony to that resonance. To expend time and craft on a homey stitching during such volatility is mimetic of the national and allied resolve that Churchill advocated, lending an anonymous authenticity to this piece, and rooting it in the emotional context of the Second World War.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Churchill, Winston. Broadcast Addresses to the People of Great Britain. 1940-1941.. , 1941.
Price: US$775.00 + shipping
Description: CHURCHILL, Winston S. Broadcast Addresses to the People of Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Russia and the United States. [6], 57, [2] pp., arms of Great Britain on half-title. Folio, 404 x 274 mm, bound in recent half morocco. San Francisco: Printed for Ransohoffs by the Grabhorn Press, 1941. This Fine Grabhorn Press Edition prints six important speeches of Winston Churchill delivered at the onset of World War II. The dates of the broadcasts range from December 23, 1940 to June 22, 1941, and thereby represent crucial communications from England to the Italian peoples, the British Nation and Empire, a broadcast to Polish peoples around the world, two general reports on the War, and a report on the Atlantic Meeting. Limited to 250 copies, printed in blue and black on hand-made paper. With large six-line initials in gold and blue and the blue and gold crest of England on the half-title. Being printed by the Grabhorn's within months of the final broadcast, this publication has to be one of the earliest to appear either in this country or England, and it is certainly the most elegantly printed of any subsequent edition. Woods D(a)8, containing Addresses A63, A67, A70, A71, A74, A76 (c).
Seller: Ursus Rare Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$950.00 + shipping
Description: Here is a full jacketed set of British first edition, first printings of Churchill's seven war speeches volumes. Few books are as emblematic of Churchills literary and leadership gifts as his war speeches volumes. Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. The British first editions are visually striking, but were printed on cheap wartime paper, bound in coarse cloth, and wrapped in bright, fragile dust jackets. They proved highly susceptible to spotting, soiling, and fading, so the passage of time has been hard on most surviving first editions. Assembling jacketed first printing sets has been challenging.This full first edition, first printing set features very good volumes in good plus or better dust jackets. The blue cloth bindings remain square, tight, and respectably clean, with only a few trivial blemishes, minor shelf wear to extremities, a few corner bumps, and a little loss of the first volume's author and publisher gilt print. The contents of all seven volumes are respectably bright, though with customary spotting, substantially confined to prelims and page edges. Most, if not all, of this set has spent life together; the same previous owners bookplate, including their inked name and date contemporary to publication, is affixed to the front pastedowns of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes. The same previous owners name and a contemporary date of "1946" is inked on the front pastedown of the seventh volume. Into Battle is not only first printing, but first state, confirmed by the absence of pagination at pages 78 and 294, and is bound in the smoother, darker blue cloth we correlate to the first state. The Unrelenting Struggle is likewise first state, with irregular pagination at p.281, as is Victory, confirmed by incorrect pagination at p.177. The first printing dust jackets retain bright hues, though with various wear and defects. The fourth, fifth, and sixth volume dust jackets have neatly price-clipped lower front flaps, the other four retaining the original publisher prices. All seven jackets show various amounts of wear to extremities, and modest overall scuffing. We note minor chip losses to the spine ends and the upper front face of the second volume, as well as a shallow strip loss to the lower left front cover of the fifth volume. The versos of the spine ends of the third, fourth, and fifth volume dust jackets have been carefully backed with colored patches, apparently from donor dust jackets, to fill in the minor losses. The white Secret Session Speeches dust jacket shows some typical spotting. All seven dust jackets are protected beneath clear, removable, archival covers. During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly " for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Reference: Cohen A142.1.a, A172.1.a, A183.1.a, A194.1.a, A214.1.a, A223.1.a, A227.2.a; Woods/ICS A66(a.1), A89(a.1), A94(a.1), A101(a.1), A107(a.1), A112(ab), A114(b); Langworth pages 204, 213, 218, 223, 228, 234, 250.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Description: This original poster from early during the Second World War testifies to both the British wartime alliance with Russia and the important role played by Prime Minister Winston Churchills wife, Clementine, in rallying material and moral public support for that wartime alliance.This circa 1941 poster measures roughly 20 x 30 inches (50 x 75 cm). Printed in blue, black and red on thin white stock, the poster is both striking and perishable. This is the first copy we have offered. The image is of a sailor clambering into a life raft below the printed headline "HE DIDNT HESITATE TO FACE EXTRA DANGERS" (with "EXTRA" in red print). The image was topical given the tremendous shipping losses to U-boats, the cost of sustaining Britain - and of Britain sending material aid to Russia. Centered below the image is a large white box with black print "WILL YOU GIVE AN | EXTRA PENNY EACH WEEK | TO THE RED CROSS | & ST. JOHN?" The "EXTRA" in red echoes that in the headline. Below the box, printed in white on the illustrated stormy blue sea background, is the statement "A QUARTER OF EVERY CONTRIBUTION GOES TO MRS. CHURCHILLS | RED CROSS "AID TO RUSSIA" FUND". Diminutive print in the bottom white center margin reads "Red Cross & St John Fund, registered under the War Charities Act, 1940" with "F.7." printed at the lower right. Condition of the poster approaches very good. The poster remains complete and unrestored, the colors vivid, the surface respectably clean. Minor wear and wrinkling to extremities are substantially confined to the margins. There are six fold lines, three horizontal and three vertical, ostensibly from original mailing. Though undated, this poster almost certainly dates from 1941. The Second World War alliance between Britain and the Soviet Union was essential but uneasy. Hitlers Germany and Stalins Russia signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939, promising mutual non-aggression. On 22 June 1941 the Pact was unceremoniously terminated when Nazi forces invaded the Soviet Union. Churchill, long a vehement anti-communist, nevertheless embraced the exigent practicality of wartime alliance with the Soviets and on 12 July 1941 the Anglo-Soviet Agreement was signed.Churchills wife, Clementine, added a human dimension to an alliance born of necessity. In 1941 the Aid to Russia fund was set up with Clementine as the chairman. Among the various fundraising methods was a "penny-a-week fund. Wage earners were given the option of volunteering a penny a week deducted from their pay . Within just 12 days £370,000 had been raised." By wars end, the Fund raised nearly £8,000,000 and provided clothing, blankets, medical supplies and other items to the Soviet Red Cross. "To amass such support from a country which was itself struggling with wartime shortages was a considerable achievement." The effort was intensely personal for Clementine. "Many who sent in letters with donations received personal, signed replies Clementine even took the time to thank all the school children who contributed " (National Trust & International Churchill Society) At the close of the Second World War, Clementine made a tour of Soviet hospitals that had been helped by her British Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund.For five weeks, from late March to early May 1945, Clementine journeyed throughout the Soviet Union. Clementine was still in Russia on V-E Day; her husband "wrote a speech for her to deliver via broadcast to the Russian people in celebration of the Allied victory: "It is my firm belief that on the friendship and understanding between the British and Russian peoples depends the future of mankind."" (Gilbert, Vol. VII, p. 1350) Her efforts had been significant and her sentiments were laudably hopeful, but charity and sentiment were not enough to overcome fundamentally different British and Russian conceptions of the nature of postwar rights and freedoms and the intractable conflicts that resulted.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$3542.72 + shipping
Description: First editions, first impressions, first states throughout, of the full set of the leader's wartime speeches, published in stages while the war was still ongoing, together with his post-war Secret Session Speeches. This set is from the library of Churchill's bibliographer Ronald I. Cohen, with his pencilled ownership inscription on the front free endpaper of each volume (aside from Victory, which he omitted to inscribe, but we can confirm is from his collection). 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. Onwards to Victory is additionally from the library of the British historian Alfred Leslie Rowse (1903-1997), with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper dated June 1944, and his pencilled annotations to the text. Rowse published a book on the Churchill family, The Later Churchills (1958), which covered up to and including Winston. Cohen A142.1.a; 172.1.a, 183.1.a, 194.1.a, A214.1a; 223.1.a; 227.2.a. 7 volumes, octavo. Original blue cloth, spines lettered in gilt. With dust jackets. Frontispieces in first five volumes along with other photographs. Contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper of vol. II and VII. Very light rubbing and bumping at extremities, light spotting to edges; jackets a little worn and rubbed, neat repair to closed tear on verso of jacket of vols. I and II, all unclipped. A very good set in very good jackets.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Churchill, Winston S.. The War Speeches - in 7 Volumes 1941-6. London Cassell 1941, 1941.
Price: US$4508.92 + shipping
Description: London -: Cassell and Company, 1941-6. [Speeches] - All FIRST EDITIONS, all first printings. Seven volumes. Octavo (22 x 15 x 19cm). Includes several half-tone plates. In publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles to spines. All in original colour dust-jackets, volume 2 neatly clipped. Wear and chipping to volumes one and to volume three. Some internal spine repairs to the dust wrappers. Neat names to volumes 3, 4 and 5. All in all, a very good set. "Winston Churchill: The War Speeches" is a notable collection published by Cassell, chronicling the inspiring oratory of Sir Winston Churchill during World War II. Comprising his most iconic speeches, this compilation offers a remarkable insight into Churchill's leadership, eloquence, and unwavering determination in the face of Nazi aggression. These speeches, delivered between 1940 and 1945, rallied the British people and the Allied forces, becoming pivotal in maintaining morale and resolve. Cassell's publication of Churchill's wartime speeches solidified his status as one of the 20th century's greatest orators and statesmen. His famous speeches, such as "We shall fight on the beaches" and "Their finest hour," remain emblematic of British resolve and the struggle against tyranny. This collection preserves Churchill's words as a testament to the indomitable spirit that helped lead the Allies to victory and stands as a testament to his enduring legacy as a leader, writer, and speaker of unparalleled influence.
Seller: John Atkinson Books ABA ILAB PBFA, Harrogate, United Kingdom
Price: US$5250.00 + shipping
Description: This striking Second World War artifact is a collection of six original British Ministry of Aircraft Production posters. This collection evokes the vital role of aircraft production in ensuring Britains survival during the early years of Winston Churchills wartime premiership.These six posters are clearly part of a concerted, sustained propaganda effort, each printed in similar hues of eye-catching vivid red or orange, all printed on wartime stock suited to their urgent, ephemeral purpose. The four appear to span 1941 to early 1942. The only definitively dated poster in the collection prominently features an image of Churchill above a quote from his speech of 8 December 1941, the day America formally entered the war after the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. Testifying to the critical importance of air power, Churchills final paragraph in that speech exhorted "all munitions workers and those engaged in war industries" to "make a further effort", specifying that this applied "above all, to aircraft." This poster measures 20 x 30 inches (50.8 x 76.2 cm) and is dated "12/41" at the lower left corner.The largest of the posters, titled "This is what YOU are making ", features a detailed structural rendering of "The Handley Page Halifax II" bomber. This poster measures 39.25 x 24.5 inches (99.7 x 62.2 cm). The Halifax performed its maiden flight little more than a week before the Second World War began and entered RAF service in November 1940, the Mk II with more powerful Merlin engines appearing in early 1942.A "WAR WORK PICTORIAL" poster measuring 30 x 20 inches (76.2 x 50.8 cm) is a series of six damaged aircraft vignettes featuring photographs and images centered around the printed theme "Some of our aircraft were damaged But they got back! thanks to the British Workers". At the lower left is an illustrated exhortation to save scrap rubber and at the lower right a "cartoon strip from Gilbert Wilkinsons popular wartime "WHAT A WAR" series. The final three posters are Ministry of Aircraft Production Bulletins, each measuring 16 x 11 inches (60.6 x 27.9 cm), each in an orange or red print with no illustrations. "REPAIRS BULLETIN No. 5" relates the story of a significantly damaged "coastal command aircraft full of shell-holes from a convoy raid" that "four days later was back in service." "HALIFAX BULLETIN No. 7" is the story of how a Halifax holed "in 20 places" and the gallant, wounded captain who returned the bomber home after a raid on Kiel. The Handley Page Halifax bomber made its first daylight operation during a raid on Kiel on 30 June 1941. "Wellington Bulletin No. 13" tells the story of a severely damaged Wellington bomber "returning from a raid on Emden" that managed to return home and land safely with only one engine functioning and "without flaps or undercarriage". Designed in the mid-1930s, the Vickers Wellington was the first bomber to operationally carry the 4,000 pound "blockbuster" bomb during the April 1941 strike on Emden.Condition of all four posters is very good or better, all clean and bright, all still folded as when originally distributed, none with any tack holes, adhesive, or any sign of ever having been displayed. Small splits starting at a few folds are the only flaws to report.On 20 August 1940, Churchill encapsulated and immortalized Britains pilots when he uttered the words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." But, as these posters testify, it was production and repair that supported the battle in the skies.That is why, less than a day after he became wartime Prime Minister, Churchill created the Minister of Aircraft Production post and, over the objections of King George VI, appointed William Maxwell Aitken, First Baron Beaverbrook (1879-1964). "In his usual energetic and domineering style" (ODNB), Beaverbrook set the tumultuous, fraught, and improbably productive aircraft production pace that saw Britain through the early years of the war.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$12800.00 + shipping
Description: Portrait photograph of Winston Churchill, taken by Edward Steichen, signed as prime minister, "Winston S. Churchill November 1940." With two portrait photographs of Churchill and a telegram from Churchill to Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie, 23 November 1961 "Thank you dearest Audrey for the luscious caviar love Winston." With three autographed letters from Clementine Churchill and one autograph Christmas card signed to Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie, 7 June 1956, 1 January 1959, 31 December 1965 and n.d., in 1956 enquiring after her recovery from an operation, otherwise sending thanks (including for an 'original and amusing cigar lighter') and greetings and mentioning Winston; with two envelopes. The signed photograph is housed in a green morocco frame by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. An exceptional collection. Following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain on May 10th 1940, Winston S. Churchill became Prime Minister of England and took the lead in warning about Nazi Germany and in campaigning for rearmament. His speeches and radio broadcasts helped inspire British resistance, especially during the difficult days of 1940â"41 when the British Commonwealth and Empire stood almost alone in its active opposition to Adolf Hitler. A non-academic historian, artist, and prolific writer, Churchill won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, lifetime body of work.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$25000.00 + shipping
Description: This full, seven-volume set of British first edition, first printings of Winston Churchills Second World War speeches offers a vanishingly rare trifecta of virtues. First, the set as a whole is unequivocally the finest we have ever encountered. Second, the presentation volume therein the seventh and final volume is equally fine, magnificently well-preserved. Third, the presentation volume is not only signed by Churchill, but inscribed, dated, and accompanied by and signed presentation letter from Churchill, providing definitive and compelling provenance.The presentation inscription, letter, envelopes, and cardsSecret Session Speeches is inscribed by Churchill in five lines on the half title: "To | Denny C. Stokes | from | Winston S. Churchill | Christmas 1947". An accompanying typed letter signed by Churchill on his Hyde Park Gate stationery is dated "December 8, 1947" and reads: "Dear Mr. Stokes, | I have received the most handsome album THE | FIGHT FOR FREEOM which you have been good enough to send | me. I am very much obliged to you for this gesture of | goodwill, and for the all-too-kind remarks contained in your | letter. Thank you so much. | I am sending you a copy of my SECRET SESSION | SPEECHES, which I have signed for you, as an expression | of my pleasure in your gift." The letter is signed by Churchill and accompanied by two original envelopes one, in which the letter resides, featuring Stokess typed Ealing address but unfranked, consonant with its inclusion with the inscribed book. A second, slightly larger envelope (in which the first envelope now resides) features the printed House of Commons seal on the flap, is franked, and is hand-addressed to a different "Stokes" at the same address. A further virtue of this inscribed presentation copy is inclusion of two rare original cards. Richard Langworth reports presentation copies of Secret Session Speeches "accompanied by a 2 1/4 x 3 3/4 in white card printed in black, 'WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF Winston S. Churchill' (name in script), surrounded by a light blue decorative border." Langworth also reports "a second card of the same size reading "The Reference to "American Authorities" in the Introduction refers to the United States Government and General Eisenhower" and surrounded by a thin light blue rule." (A Connoisseurs Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, p.250) In addition to Churchills inscription, Churchills presentation letter, and the envelopes, this inscribed presentation copy features both presentation cards.Edition and ConditionBetween 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. The British first editions are visually striking, but were printed on cheap wartime paper, bound in coarse cloth, and wrapped in bright, thin, fragile dust jackets. They proved highly susceptible to spotting, soiling, and fading, so the passage of time has been hard on most surviving first editions. This particular set is simply magnificent, each volume truly fine in a near fine plus or better dust jacket. Jackets, bindings, and contents are all strikingly clean. Of note, Into Battle is not only first edition, but first state, denoted by the absence of pagination at pages 78 and 294, and is bound in the smoother, darker blue cloth we correlate exclusively to the first state. The Unrelenting Struggle is likewise first state, denoted by irregular pagination at page 281. Such sets even more so such beautifully preserved inscribed volumes are virtually a chimera. All four volumes are housed together in a full, navy, Morocco goatskin case with dropback top and front, magnetic closure, ribbon pull tab, and silver title and author print.The recipient, Denny StokesThe recipient of this inscribed book was Dennis "Denny" Crane Stokes (1900-1975). While we know nothing about the "most handsome album THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM" to which Churchill refers in his letter, we do know that Stokes made a name for himself building dioramas, predominantly historical and military in nature. Denny shared with Churchill a keen interest in history, in the minutiae of battle tactics, and in the use of miniatures to portray both.Stokes may have served at the end of the First World War with the Royal Scots Fusiliers and been wounded around the time the Allies breached the Hindenburg Line in September 1918 another subject of Stokess known dioramas. Churchill served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers during the First World War. Certainly, it may be imagined that Stokess dioramas appealed to Churchill who, as a youth, arranged his own considerable collection of toy soldiers into elaborate battle scenes. The accumulation of these notional connections may explain why Stokes received such a compellingly personalized letter and inscribed book from Churchill.Reference: Cohen A142.1.a, A172.1.a, A183.1.a, A194.1.a, A214.1.a, A223.1.b, A227.2.a; Woods/ICS A66(a.1), A89(a.1), A94(a.1), A101(a.1), A107(a.1), A112(ab), A114(b); Langworth pages 204, 213, 218, 223, 228, 234, 250.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.