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Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Description: This is the U.S. first edition, scarce in the first state, and extravagantly scarce thus, inscribed and signed by the author in three lines. Churchill wrote "Uganda is defended by its insects." Directly below he wrote the citation to where this quote is found in the text: "p.94". Below, Churchill signed "Winston S. Churchill". ConditionCondition of this compellingly inscribed copy approaches very good. First state is confirmed by "Hodder and Stoughton" as the only publisher on the title page. The American binding was comparatively plain and aesthetically uninspired compared to that of the British first edition. The cloth proved highly susceptible to fading and mottling of the color; nearly all remaining copies show spine sunning. The binding is square and tight, though spine toned with light scuffing and color variation to the boards. A clean split to the cloth of the upper front hinge does not affect binding integrity or appreciably impact aesthetic appearance. Modest shelf wear shows at the corners, hinges, and spine ends, with a miniscule split and minor fraying at the spine heel. The contents are surprisingly clean for the edition. We find no spotting. Other than the authors inscription the only previous ownership marking of any kind is a tiny, personal library sticker printed "7246" and affixed to the upper front pastedown. The untrimmed fore and bottom edges show some age-toning and the top edge shows shelf dust. The 61 photographs of this edition were tipped in rather than bound, and plates often go missing. In this case, all photographic plates are present and intact, including the frontispiece, the frontispiece tissue guard, and the three maps. The only damage noted is a tiny chip and .375 inch (.95 cm) split to the lower fore edge of the front free endpaper.Provenance is of note; this book spent more than four decades in the personal collection of Churchills bibliographer, Ronald I. Cohen.Churchills African JourneyIn the summer of 1907 Churchill left England for five months, making his way after working stops in southern Europe to Africa for "a tour of the east African domains." By now a seasoned and financially shrewd author, Churchill arranged to profit doubly from the trip, first by serializing articles in The Strand Magazine and then by publishing a book based substantially upon them. In November 1908 Hodder and Stoughton published My African Journey as a book, which was a substantial 10,000 words longer than the serialized articles. Uganda and its insectsChurchills narrative portrayal of "The Kingdom of Uganda" is found at pages 86-103. When Churchill toured the country, Uganda had been a British protectorate for a decade and a half, since 1894. As might be expected, Churchills discussion of Uganda is more nuanced than might be inferred from the quote he chose to append to his signature. In addition to citing its problems and plagues insect and otherwise - Churchill also wrote of Uganda with lyrical appreciation: "Uganda is a fairy-tale. You climb up a railway instead of a beanstalk, and at the end there is a wonderful new world. The scenery is different, the vegetation is different, the climate is different, and most of all, the people are different from anything elsewhere to be seen in the whole range of Africa." (p.86)Churchills comment about the insects was an encapsulation of his broader observation about the negative physical and psychological effects of Uganda on its European inhabitants. More prophetic and prosaic, he noted "there seems to be a solemn veto placed upon the white mans permanent residence in these beautiful abodes." Uganda gained its formal independence on 9 October 1962, during the final years of Churchills life and long parliamentary career, and notionally became a republic in 1963. Uganda has since struggled with depredations more severe than its insects, including civil strife, various flavors of autocracy, and AIDS. Reference: Cohen A27.4, Woods/ICS A12(ab), Langworth p.83 First U.S. edition, only printing, first state.
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$18000.00 + shipping
Description: This rare prize is the British first edition of My African Journey, signed and dated by Winston S. Churchill upon publication. Three lines in black ink on the front free endpaper read: "From | Winston S. Churchill | 1 Dec 1908". Publication was 30 November 1908. An armorial bookplate affixed to the front pastedown testifies that this copy belonged to the Marquess of Crewe, Churchills fellow Cabinet member when this copy was signed. Condition of this copy would be noteworthy even without the inscription. The distinctive illustrated red cloth binding remains square and tight with sharp corners and only trivial hints of shelf wear to extremities. We note minor overall soiling. Shelf presentation is impressive for the edition, with only slight spine toning. The contents are bright with a crisp feel. Modest spotting is intermittent, primarily confined to blank inner margins, heavier only to first and final leaves. All 61 photographs and three maps are intact, including the frontispiece and tissue cover. Confirming the age and originality of the bookplate, the ghosted outline of the bookplate is clearly visible amid transfer browning to the signed front free endpaper.Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858-1945) both inherited his fathers title and "shared his fathers Liberalism". His fathers death in 1885 put him in the House of Lords as Baron Houghton, where he was made a Liberal whip. The death of his first wife in 1887 sidelined his political career. Like Churchill, he supported Home Rule, which led to his 1892 return to politics as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1894, a year before the Liberals fell from power, the third Baron Crewe died and Baron Houghton succeeded to the Crewe estates and became Earl of Crewe. From the beginning of Campbell-Bannermans premiership, "Crewe became a pivotal figure in Liberal governments from 1905-1916". Crewe enjoyed the trust of both Campbell-Bannerman and his successor, Asquith, to whom Crewe was "principal political aide and confidant during the eight years of his premiership". Crewe thus served in Cabinets alongside a young Winston Churchill, who first joined the Cabinet in 1908, the same year that he published My African Journey. Fittingly, in 1908 Crewe succeeded Lord Elgin as Colonial Secretary; Churchill wrote his travelogue on Britain's possessions in East Africa while he was serving as Elgins Undersecretary of State for the Colonies. Crewe was made a Marquess in 1911. Though Asquiths departure from office "virtually ended his career as a national politician" Crewe later served as ambassador to France, spent ten weeks in the Cabinet of Ramsay MacDonald, and led independent Liberals in the House of Lords from 1936 to the end of 1944. In the summer of 1907 Churchill left England for five months, making his way after working stops in southern Europe to Africa for "a tour of the east African domains." In early November, Churchill would kill a rhinoceros, the basis of the striking illustration on the front cover of the British first edition of his eventual book. By now a seasoned and financially shrewd author, Churchill arranged to profit doubly from the trip, first by serializing articles in The Strand Magazine and then by publishing a book based substantially upon them.In November 1908 Hodder and Stoughton published My African Journey as a book, which was a substantial 10,000 words longer than the serialized articles.The British first edition is striking, with a vivid red binding and a prominent front cover bearing a woodcut illustration in blue, grey, and black of Churchill with his bagged white rhinoceros.The red cloth spine proved exceptionally vulnerable to sunning and the lovely books seem to have attracted handling, making wear and soiling the norm.Spotting is also endemic.Bright and clean copies are scarce, contemporary signed copies exceptionally scarce. Reference: Cohen A27.1, Woods/ICS A12(aa), Langworth p.81
Seller: Churchill Book Collector ABAA/ILAB/IOBA, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.