Winston Churchill - Thoughts and Adventures, British first edition, first print

Description: Thoughts and Adventures Winston S. Churchill London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1932 British first edition, first printing Condition: Good plus This is the first edition, first printing of Churchill's collection of 23 engaging essays on an incredibly wide variety of subjects. It has been called "The broadest range of Churchill's thought between two hard covers" and reflects the two qualities that so characterize Churchill's life - a remarkable breadth of both mind and life experience. The khaki cloth unique to the first printing of this edition is notoriously prone to scuffing, wear, and soiling, and the contents proved highly susceptible to spotting. Absent the protection of the scarce and expensive original dust jacket, nearly every copy we encounter is both significantly scuffed and spine toned. This copy is in good plus condition. The binding is inevitably scuffed, including a tiny closed tear at the spine head, but nonetheless remains square and tight with bright gilt and no appreciable color shift between the covers and spine. The contents are unusually clean. We find no internal spotting, which appears confined to just a few scattered spots on the page edges. The sole previous ownership mark dates from the Second World War and intrigues. "W. Churchill" and a date of "14/6/44" is inked on the front free endpaper recto. This, in our opinion, is definitively not the signature of the author. The page edges show moderate age-toning, the fore and bottom edges otherwise clean, the top edge a bit dust soiled, the fore edges with a few minor indentations. An original blurb for Thoughts and Adventures encapsulates – as far as is possible – the wide range of the chapters within: “These true stories concern such things as the tides that make a politician change his mind; the domination of chance in human lives; the cartoonists who mocked Churchill; the chances and events that occurred while he was in the trenches; phases of the war seen from intimate participation with the high commands; flying experiences in 1912; the Irish; the future; and contemporary change." In a 31 May 1932 letter to his publisher about the book, Churchill characterized it thus: "...although there is no one single theme, it has some of the best things in it I have ever written." Reference: Cohen A95.1.a, Woods/ICS A39(aa.1), Langworth p.156 Ref #: 007735 CHURCHILL BOOK COLLECTOR We are Churchill Book Collector, a professional bookseller specializing in books and other published works by and about the great twentieth century statesman and acclaimed writer, Sir Winston Churchill. We offer both a singular inventory and approachable expertise. The integrity of our inventory is backed by our membership in the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Churchill's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, rightly called Churchill's long life "remarkable and versatile". Statesman, soldier, war correspondent, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, painter - Churchill was many things, but perhaps above all a master wordsmith. We’re here to help Churchill’s words find your shelves. Our extensive inventory features some of the rarest material offered – including fine first editions and inscribed copies – as well as reading copies and works about Churchill’s life and time. While we specialize in Churchill, our inventory also includes noteworthy first and collectible editions by other authors, ranging from Xenophon to T. E. Lawrence, spanning exploration and empire to twentieth century fiction. We are able to help with anything from finding individual books to assembling full collections, working closely with individual collectors to identify and accommodate their preferences and budget. We are also able to commission preservation cases and fine bindings. Please contact us if you have books to sell. We buy, and in some cases consign, fine and collectible individual items, as well as whole collections.

Price: 480 USD

Location: San Diego, California

End Time: 2024-11-25T17:28:51.000Z

Shipping Cost: 20 USD