Winston S. Churchill. The River War, An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan: Volume II (only). Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1900.

Price: US$1000.00 + shipping

Description: This is Volume II only of the first edition, third and final printing, a particularly clean and bright copy. The River War is Churchill's second published book, issued in two volumes, the lengthiest from his time as an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent during the waning days of Queen Victoria’s reign. This first edition is not only compellingly written, but also physically beautiful. The two large, lavish volumes are decorated with gilt representations of the Mahdi's tomb on the spines and a gunboat on the front covers. Each volume is printed on heavy paper with a profusion of illustrations, maps, and plans. This third and final printing is not only the scarcest issue of the first edition, but also the last unabridged issue to be published until 2020. All three printings of the first edition (2,646 copies total) are virtually identical, issued respectively in November 1899, February 1900, and June 1900. Only 151 third printing copies were bound. This copy of the second volume is not only scarce, but particularly so thus, in very good plus condition, fully intact and unrestored. The illustrated cloth binding is square, clean, tight, and uncommonly bright. Shelf presentation is compelling, with no discernible color shift between the covers and spine, both of which retain rich navy hue and vivid gilt. Wear is minimal for the edition, trivial shelf wear substantially confined to the bottom edges, incidental hinge wear, and some wrinkling to the spine ends. The only reportable blemishes are a few tiny spots adjacent to the volume number on the spine. Overall, this is an externally gorgeous copy. The contents remain bright and complete; we confirm presence of all of the extensive maps and plans, as well as the frontispiece, tissue guard, and original black endpapers. The sole previous ownership mark is the armorial bookplate of "John Nicholl Hampson" affixed to the front pastedown. Spotting is comparatively moderate for the edition, conspicuous only to the first and final leaves and page edges, otherwise only occasionally intruding into the blank inner margins.The Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed, was a messianic Islamic leader in central and northern Sudan in the final decades of the 19th century. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of the capitol, Khartoum. Though the Mahdi died that same year, his theocracy continued until 1898, when General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan. With Kitchener – to his vexation – was a very young Winston Churchill, who participated in "the last great British cavalry charge" during the battle of Omdurman in September 1898, where the Mahdist forces were decisively defeated. On that battlefield Churchill both killed and witnessed the death of comrades. Writing about the British campaign in the Sudan, Churchill - a young officer in a colonial British army - is unusually sympathetic to the Mahdist forces and critical of Imperial cynicism and cruelty. This work offers us the candid perspective of the future 20th century icon from the distinctly 19th century battlefields where Churchill learned to write and earned his early fame. The text is arresting, insightful, powerfully descriptive, and of enduring relevance.Reference; Cohen A2.1.d, Woods/ICS A2(a.3), Langworth p.29.

Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.

Churchill, Winston S. Ian Hamilton's March.. Longman's, Green, and Co, London, 1900.

Price: US$1800.00 + shipping

Description: First edition of Churchill's fifth book, a continuation of his coverage of the Boer War which he began in London to Ladysmith via Pretoria. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt signature to the front panel, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt,engraved frontispiece portrait of Ian Hamilton, folding map in color and 4 pages of advertisements for Churchill's works at rear. In fine condition. The sequel to Churchill's popular London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, Ian Hamilton's March "describes the fighting march of Ian Hamilton's mounted division from Bloemfontein to Johannesburg (Churchill rode a bicycle into 'Jo'burg' a day before the army arrived) and on to Pretoria, where the author was able to help liberate his former fellow prisoners" (Langworth, 58). The work consists of 17 letters Churchill published as a Morning Post correspondent; "in contrast to London to Ladysmith, the texts of the originally published letters were more extensively revised and four letters were included which had never appeared in periodical form" (Cohen A8.1.a).

Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.

CHURCHILL, Winston S.. Ian Hamilton's March. Together with Extracts from the Diary of Lieutenant H. Frankland, a Prisoner of War at Pretoria.. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900, 1900.

Price: US$22448.33 + shipping

Description: First US edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the initial blank to his political aide at the Colonial Office, "To Eliot Crawshay Williams with every good wish from Winston S. Churchill 4 July 1908". From 1906 to 1908 Churchill, then Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, employed Crawshay-Williams (1879-1962) as his assistant private secretary. Crawshay-Williams recalled this role: "My duties were not of statesmanlike magnitude, being mainly, as Winston put it, to keep the flies off him. But the opportunities of coming into close touch with the machinery and personnel of government, with the questions of the day, and, more important than all else, with a brilliant and commanding political personality, were precious and unique" (Crawshay-Williams, p. 58). He became a Liberal MP for Leicester in 1910 and served as parliamentary private secretary to David Lloyd George, but his political career was cut short in 1913 when he became embroiled in a divorce scandal. He afterwards served in the First World War and published poetry and plays. He and Churchill remained in touch for many years. In 1940, he sent a letter to Churchill appealing for him to make peace with Hitler; Churchill responded that he was ashamed of him and told him to burn the letter (Roberts, p. 569). Ian Hamilton's March is a sequel to London to Ladysmith and completes Churchill's coverage of the Boer War, describing the liberation of the Boer prison camp where Churchill had been held captive and the march of Ian Hamilton's mounted division from Bloemfontein to Johannesburg. "It is, of course, indispensable to any Churchill library, and it has long been canonised among the more collectible Churchill books" (Langworth, p. 58). This US edition was published on 26 November 1900, following the British release of 12 October. Provenance: Crawshay-Williams (inscribed to by Churchill, his bookplate on the front pastedown); the collection of Steve Forbes. Cohen A8.2. Eliot Crawshay-Williams, Simple Story: An Accidental Autobiography, 1935; Richard Langworth, A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, 1998; Andrew Roberts, Churchill, 2019. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt. Housed in custom red quarter morocco slipcase and cloth chemise. Frontispiece portrait of Hamilton after John Singer Sargent, 9 wood-engraved maps and plans in text, folding map in partial colour at rear. Slight stain at cover edges, otherwise tight with clean contents: a very good copy.

Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom

Winston S. Churchill. London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, inscribed and dated by Churchill on 12 August 1900 during his first successful campaign for Parliament, just 23 days after Churchill's return from South Africa, and accompanied by a typed, hand-emended, and signed presentation letter from Churchill specifically explaining the gift of the book. Longmans, Green, & Co., London, 1900.

Price: US$25000.00 + shipping

Description: On 12 August 1900, during his first successful campaign for Parliament, Winston Churchill inscribed and dated this remarkable presentation copy of the first edition, first printing to the recipient. It was a highly relevant gift. First, the book – Churchill’s fourth – recounts the daring, dramatic escape that made Churchill a war hero and propelled his first election victory a month and a half after he inscribed this copy. Second, it was gifted in thanks for the recipient’s help on a Sunday with the young candidate’s overwhelming accumulation of correspondence. This inscribed presentation copy is accompanied by a typed, signed presentation letter from Churchill specifically explaining the gift of this book. Signed, first edition copies of Churchill’s early works are quite scarce. A copy thus – inscribed, dated, contemporary, to a known recipient, and with definitive provenance – is a compellingly rare prize.Churchill inscribed this book in four lines on the half-title recto: "To John Mansfield Esq. | from | Winston S. Churchill | August 12th 1900"The accompanying hand-emended and signed presentation letter is typed on a single sheet of laid, watermarked paper measuring 8 x 10 inches and printed with Churchill’s mother’s address, "35 A, GREAT CUMBERLAND PLACE, | W." The typed date is "August 14th, 1900. In three paragraphs, the letter reads:"Dear Mr. Mansfield, The Letters are all right. It is very kind of you to have taken so much trouble to have written them for me. I don’t know what I should have done if the accumulation had run on for two or three more days. I fear I was the thoughtless cause of spoiling your fine Sunday. Will you accept, as a small recognition of the assistance you have been to me, a copy of my book about the Boer War, which I forward with this letter?"The word "for" in the second paragraph, as well as the question mark at the end of the third paragraph, are both hand-emended.The valediction and signature are likewise in Churchill’s hand: "Yours vy truly | Winston S. Churchill"The recipient, John Henry Mansfield (1865-1932), was the estate agent for Howick Hall, home of Churchill’s host, Earl Grey.This inscribed presentation copy approaches very good condition. The binding is square, tight, and clean. The binding is lightly soiled, though only appreciably on the blank rear cover, and the spine is not toned, with both the gilt and red subtitle distinct. The binding shows light wear to extremities, some fraying along the front joint, and a little wrinkling to the spine cloth. The contents are particularly bright and clean for the edition and retain a crisp feel. We find no previous ownership marks other than the author’s inscription. Especially impressive for the edition, there is no spotting. The original black endpapers are intact with no sign of cracking at the gutters. All maps and plans are present, including the folding maps at the title page and p.366. The rear catalogue is dated "10/99" (rather than "’7/00"), indicating this is one of the earlier bound copies.The book is housed in a full red Morocco goatskin Solander case featuring a rounded, hubbed spine, the spine bands gilt rule framed and gilt decorated, the covers with gilt rule borders, the interior lined with red velvet. Condition of the case is as-new, with no reportable wear, soiling, blemishes, or fading.The typed, hand-emended, and signed letter from Churchill is complete, with no loss or tears, despite significant soiling and staining, particularly to the upper and right edges. The letter has three horizontal creases and one vertical crease, ostensibly from original posting.The letter is housed in a clear, removable, archival sleeve within a rigid, crimson cloth folder.While the letter and book together provide self-evident provenance, we can also share that the book and letter were sold by the great grandchild of the recipient, John Mansfield.Reference: Cohen A4.1.a, Woods/ICS A4(a.1), Langworth p.53.

Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.