A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Chartwell Edition
London: The Educational Book Company, Ltd., 1956. Chartwell (First Illustrated) Edition. Hardcover. This is a full, four-volume set of the first illustrated edition, which was published contemporaneously with the first edition and is known as "The Chartwell Edition." This is a particularly handsome edition of Churchill’s sweeping history and last great work. This edition is not only profusely illustrated, but is also attractively bound in heavy blue buckram with red leather spine labels blocked in gilt, gilt ruled spine compartments, gilt volume title and vertical rule on each front cover, head and foot bands, and blue topstain.
This set is in good plus condition. The bindings are square and tight and the red leather spine labels are fully intact. Nonetheless, the set shows light overall soiling and scuffing, very mild spine toning, and light shelf wear to extremities. The contents are clean with a crisp, unread feel, no previous ownership marks, and no spotting. The blue top edges retain strong, dark hue across all four volumes.
Churchill's four-volume epic, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, was published between 1956 and 1958. The work traces a great historical arc from Roman Britain through the end of the Nineteenth Century, ending with the death of Queen Victoria. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is the very year that saw Churchill conclude his first North American lecture tour, take his first seat in Parliament, and begin to make history himself. The work itself was two decades in the making. The Churchillian conceptions that underpinned it were lifelong. The cultural commonality and vitality of English-speaking peoples animated Churchill throughout his life, from his Victorian youth in an ascendant British Empire to his twilight in the midst of the American century.
Churchill began A History of the English-Speaking Peoples in the 1930s, completing a draft of "about half a million words" which was set aside when Churchill returned to the Admiralty and to war in September 1939. The work was fittingly interrupted by an unprecedented alliance among the English-speaking peoples during the Second World War - an alliance Churchill personally did much to cultivate, cement, and sustain. The interruption continued as Churchill bent his literary efforts to his six-volume history, The Second World War, and then his remaining political energies to his second and final premiership from 1951-1955. Please anticipate that this substantial, heavy set may require additional postage.
Reference: Cohen A267.2, Woods/ICS A138(d). Langworth p.317. Item #007596
Price: $250.00