“My dear Bill…” An archive containing correspondence between Winston S. Churchill and his close friend, the publishing magnate Viscount Camrose, as well as Camrose’s sons, the correspondence spanning sixteen years, from 1946 to 1962, and including seventeen instances of Churchill’s signature, as well as various salutations, valedictions, emendations, and annotations in Churchill’s hand
Including Chartwell, Hyde Park Gate, Hotel de la Mamounia in Marrakech, New York City, 10 Downing Street, and Villa Politi in Syracuse, Sicily: 1946 - 1962. Letter. This remarkable archive contains correspondence from Winston S. Churchill to his close friend, William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose (1879-1954) and Camrose’s sons, centered on the conception, writing, and publication of Churchill’s Second World War memoirs. Churchill’s signature appears seventeen different times in this archive, along with various salutations, valedictions, emendations, and annotations. The correspondence spans sixteen years, from 15 October 1946 to 11 October 1962, detailing multiple aspects of Churchill’s war memoirs, from concerns attending initial conception before Churchill began writing to submittal of the final words of the sixth and final volume.
Among other things, Churchill’s letters in this archive illuminate Churchill’s “Private & Confidential” considerations, his exacting engagement in editing his work, the tensions between his obligations as an author and as a statesman, his finances, his health, his postwar travel, how early and earnestly Churchill advocated for a sixth volume, and the nature and intimacy of his working relationship with Camrose. Churchill’s letters are posted from Chartwell, Hyde Park Gate, Hotel de la Mamounia in Marrakech, New York City, 10 Downing Street, and Villa Politi in Syracuse, Sicily. Six of Churchill’s letters are explicitly marked either “Private” or “Private & Confidential”. While the primary voice in the archive is that of Churchill, it also contains contributions from Camrose, Camrose’s sons Seymour (2nd Viscount Camrose) and Michael (Baron Hartwell), Isaiah Berlin, and Emery Reves, as well as various secretarial notations.
Included in the archive are the following:
Ten typed, signed letters from Churchill to Camrose
A two-page typed “aide memoire” from Churchill for Camrose pleading Churchill’s case for a sixth and final volume of his war memoirs
Four typed, signed letters from Churchill to Camrose’s son, Seymour (2nd Viscount Camrose)
Two typed, signed letters from Churchill to Camrose’s son, Michael (Baron Hartwell)
A telegram from then-Prime Minister Churchill to Seymour and Michael
A postmarked 10 Downing Street envelope from the final year of Churchill’s premiership (accompanying Churchill’s letter of condolence to Seymour and Michael on the death of their father)
Two typed pages of comments from Isaiah Berlin on Book I of the first volume of The Second World War
A three-page draft letter by Emery Reves to Churchill’s publishers
File copies of various correspondence from Camrose and his son, Seymour, to Churchill
Of his close friend, addressed in this archive as "My dear Bill...", Churchill wrote in one of the letters in this archive, “He was one of my most true and most valued friends for more than thirty years.”
British newspaper publisher William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, co-owned the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post – both papers for which a very young Churchill had served as a war correspondent in the final years of the 19th century during the reign of Queen Victoria. Churchill’s wartime and postwar publisher in Britain – Cassell – was also linked to Camrose.
After the Second World War, Camrose played crucial roles in securing Churchill’s prosperity. Churchill turned to Camrose to help negotiate sale of publication rights to Churchill’s war memoirs - “perhaps the greatest coup of Twentieth Century publishing”. Sale of these rights enabled the financial security not only of Churchill, but of his family, via a special Family Trust (alluded to in this archive’s correspondence) whereby all earnings from his war memoirs would go to the benefit of his children and grandchildren without the burden of taxation. Camrose also assembled a consortium of benefactors to buy Churchill’s beloved country estate, Chartwell, allowing Churchill to reside there for the rest of his life for a nominal rent.
A CONSIDERABLY MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THIS ARCHIVE, INCLUDING AN ITEMIZED LIST AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH OF THE CONSTITUENT ITEMS, IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. Item #006123
This remarkable archive contains correspondence from Winston S. Churchill to his close friend, William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose (1879-1954) and Camrose’s sons, centered on the conception, writing, and publication of Churchill’s Second World War memoirs. Churchill’s signature appears seventeen different times in this archive, along with various salutations, valedictions, emendations, and annotations. The correspondence spans sixteen years, from 15 October 1946 to 11 October 1962, detailing multiple aspects of Churchill’s war memoirs, from concerns attending initial conception before Churchill began writing to submittal of the final words of the sixth and final volume.
Among other things, Churchill’s letters in this archive illuminate Churchill’s “Private & Confidential” considerations, his exacting engagement in editing his work, the tensions between his obligations as an author and as a statesman, his finances, his health, his postwar travel, how early and earnestly Churchill advocated for a sixth volume, and the nature and intimacy of his working relationship with Camrose. Churchill’s letters are posted from Chartwell, Hyde Park Gate, Hotel de la Mamounia in Marrakech, New York City, 10 Downing Street, and Villa Politi in Syracuse, Sicily. Six of Churchill’s letters are explicitly marked either “Private” or “Private & Confidential”. While the primary voice in the archive is that of Churchill, it also contains contributions from Camrose, Camrose’s sons Seymour (2nd Viscount Camrose) and Michael (Baron Hartwell), Isaiah Berlin, and Emery Reves, as well as various secretarial notations.
Included in the archive are the following:
Ten typed, signed letters from Churchill to Camrose
A two-page typed “aide memoire” from Churchill for Camrose pleading Churchill’s case for a sixth and final volume of his war memoirs
Four typed, signed letters from Churchill to Camrose’s son, Seymour (2nd Viscount Camrose)
Two typed, signed letters from Churchill to Camrose’s son, Michael (Baron Hartwell)
A telegram from then-Prime Minister Churchill to Seymour and Michael
A postmarked 10 Downing Street envelope from the final year of Churchill’s premiership (accompanying Churchill’s letter of condolence to Seymour and Michael on the death of their father)
Two typed pages of comments from Isaiah Berlin on Book I of the first volume of The Second World War
A three-page draft letter by Emery Reves to Churchill’s publishers
File copies of various correspondence from Camrose and his son, Seymour, to Churchill
An itemized list and brief description of the items in this archive, as well as additional images, are available upon request.
Of his close friend, addressed in this archive as "My dear Bill...", Churchill wrote in one of the letters in this archive, “He was one of my most true and most valued friends for more than thirty years.”
British newspaper publisher William Ewart Berry, 1st Viscount Camrose, owned (with his brother, Lord Kemsley) the Daily Telegraph and Morning Post – both papers for which a very young Churchill had served as a war correspondent in the final years of the 19th century during the reign of Queen Victoria. Churchill’s wartime and postwar publisher in Britain – Cassell – was also linked to Camrose; Sir Walter Newman Flower (1879-1964) purchased the book-publishing part of Cassell in 1927 from Camrose and Kemsley.
After the Second World War, Camrose played crucial roles in securing Churchill’s prosperity. Churchill turned to Camrose to help negotiate sale of publication rights to Churchill’s war memoirs - “perhaps the greatest coup of Twentieth Century publishing”. Sale of these rights enabled the financial security not only of Churchill, but of his family, via a special Family Trust (alluded to in this archive’s correspondence) whereby all earnings from his war memoirs would go to the benefit of his children and grandchildren without the burden of taxation. Camrose also assembled a consortium of benefactors to buy Churchill’s beloved country estate, Chartwell, allowing Churchill to reside there for the rest of his life for a nominal rent.
Camrose died in June 1954, just a few months after British publication of the sixth and final volume of Churchill’s war memoirs and less than a year before Churchill finally and irrevocably relinquished the reins of power, resigning his second and final premiership and passing "into a living national memorial" of the time he lived and the Nation, Empire, and free world he served. After the death of Camrose, the archive’s correspondence continues with Churchill expressing his condolences to Camrose’s sons on the loss of their father and also corresponding about the final volume of The Second World War and Seymour's succeeding his father as a member of Churchill’s Other Club. The archive terminates with an October 1962 letter from Churchill to Camrose’s sons expressing condolences on the death of their mother.
Price: $59,500.00