Winston S. Churchill - My Early Life, Keystone Library, third printing, 1940

Description: My Early Life Winston S. Churchill London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd., 1940 Keystone Library issue, third printing Condition: Very GoodJacket Condition: Very Good minus This the third and final printing of the Keystone Library issue of Winston Churchill’s extremely popular autobiography, covering the years from his birth in 1874 to his first few years in Parliament. My Early Life was originally published in 1930, sold very well at the time, and has seen a great many editions since, many of them collectible in their own right. But, of course, a premium attaches to first editions. The Keystone Library series was published by Thornton Butterworth in the same setting and binding style as the first edition. There were three printings between 1934 and 1940. Like the first edition, the Keystone Library edition was also bound in a striking purple cloth that proved very prone to wear and fading. With jacketed first British editions now extravagantly rare and extraordinarily expensive, the Keystone Library issue is an attractive alternative. When this final Keystone Library printing was published in January 1940, Churchill had been wartime Prime minister for only eight months. This copy is very good in a very good minus dust jacket. The strikingly clean and bright purple cloth binding retains vivid hue and gilt print. We note only mild shelf wear to extremities, including gently bumped lower corners, and a moderate forward lean. The contents are respectably bright with light intermittent spotting. The endpapers show differential toning corresponding to the dust jacket flaps – further testimony that this copy has spent life jacketed. The sole previous ownership mark is an inked gift inscription on the front free endpaper recto dated “Nov: 7th 1940”. The title and dedication leaves remain uncut, still connected along the bottom edge. The dust jacket is substantially complete, with only fractional loss at the spine ends and flap fold corners. The jacket spine is a bit toned, scuffed, and creased, the rest of the jacket only lightly soiled with modest wear to hinges, flap folds, and extremities. The jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable archival cover. One can hardly ask for more adventurous content than the non-fiction (well, mostly) between the covers of My Early Life. These momentous and formative years for Churchill included his time as an itinerant war correspondent and cavalry officer in theaters ranging from Cuba, to northwest India, to sub-Saharan and southern Africa. Churchill also recounts his capture and escape during the Boer War, which made him a celebrity and helped launch his political career. Herein Churchill says: "Twenty to twenty-five! These are the years! Don't be content with things as they are. 'The earth is yours and the fulness thereof'. Enter upon your inheritance, accept your responsibilities.... Don't take No for an answer. Never submit to failure... You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be wooed and won by youth." (MEL, p.74) By the end of his own twenty-fifth year, Churchill had been one of the world’s highest paid war correspondents, published his first five books, made his first lecture tour of North America, braved and breasted both battlefields and the hustings, and been elected to Parliament, where he would take his first seat only weeks after the end of Queen Victoria’s reign. My Early Life remains one of the most popular and widely read of all Churchill's books. An original 1930 review likened it to a "beaker of Champagne." That effervescent charm endures; a more recent writer called it "a racy, humorous, self-deprecating classic of autobiography." To be sure, Churchill takes some liberties with facts and perhaps unduly lightens or over-simplifies certain events. Nonetheless, the factual experiences of Churchill’s early life compete with any fiction, and any liberties taken are forgivable, in keeping with the wit, pace, and engaging style that characterize the book. Reference: Cohen A91.3.d, Woods/ICS A37(ac.3), Langworth p.136. Ref #: 007573 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: 220 USD

Location: San Diego, California

End Time: 2024-12-28T19:04:46.000Z

Shipping Cost: 12 USD