The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901. Second edition, final printing. Hardcover. This is the second and final printing of the Silver Library edition of Churchill's first book, notable for being a scarce binding variant. The Silver Library edition was the first to incorporate the author's corrections in the text, making this an important and highly collectable edition. Unfortunately, the maroon boards proved highly susceptible to fading and wear, the paper easily browned and became brittle, and the binding often cracked. Of only 1,000 copies of the second printing, just 337 were recorded as sold, so they are scarce. Despite the small number, there were multiple binding variants in this printing. This particular variant is bound in cloth that is smoother than that of the first printing, but nonetheless a similar maroon color with a blind rule border on the front cover rather than a gilt rule border. Moreover, this copy features the distinctive swan and ship endpapers typically found only in first printing copies, featuring the uncorrected “1926” date rather than the corrected “1924” date.
Condition is very good overall. The binding is square and tight and shows only mild color shift between the covers and spine. The corners and spine show some wear with some fraying to the spine ends. The covers are lightly soiled with a few spots of minor blistering to the cloth. Though toned, as typical for the edition, the contents are clean with no spotting and no previous ownership marks. All maps are present and complete, as is the frontispiece and tissue guard.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force recounts Churchill’s experiences while attached to Sir Bindon Blood's punitive expedition on the Northwest Frontier of India in 1897. This book was written and published while Churchill was a young cavalry officer still serving in India. He had successfully applied his pen as a war correspondent - indeed the book is based on his dispatches to the Daily Telegraph and the Pioneer Mail – but this was his first book-length work. Churchill was motivated by a combination of pique and ambition. He was vexed that his Daily Telegraph columns were to be published unsigned. On 25 October 1897 Churchill wrote to his mother: "...I had written them with the design... of bringing my personality before the electorate." Two weeks later, his resolve to write a book firming, Churchill again wrote to his mother: "...It is a great undertaking but if carried out will yield substantial results in every way, financially, politically, and even, though do I care a damn, militarily." Having invested his ambition in his first book, he clearly labored over it: "I have discovered a great power of application which I did not think I possessed. For two months I have worked not less than five hours a day."
Churchill sent the finished manuscript to his mother on the last day of 1897. It was published on 14 March of 1898. Publication was arranged by Churchill's uncle while the author was still in India, resulting in numerous spelling and detail errors. Churchill was incensed by the errors and acted with haste to address them. In part because of the errors in the first edition which so vexed Churchill, the publisher issued this second, Silver Library edition less than a year after the first in January 1899.
Reference: Cohen A1.3.b, Woods/ICS A1(ba.2), Langworth p.22. Item #006410
Price: $550.00