My Early Life
London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1930. First edition, first printing, first state, second binding state. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing, first state, of Churchill's autobiography. My Early Life 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 challenge for collectors is that the plum-colored binding of this edition proved especially vulnerable to fading, soiling, and wear; nearly all copies are considerably spine faded. Moreover, the contents proved quite susceptible to spotting.
Two states of the first edition, first printing are identified, with a list of either 11 or 12 Churchill titles in the boxed list of "Works by the same Author" on the half-title verso. With 11 titles on the half title verso, this copy is definitively first state. There were also a number of first edition binding states, bound in either a coarse or a smooth plum colored cloth, with the title stamped on the front cover in either three or five lines. This first edition, first printing, first state is the second binding state, denoted by five lines on the front cover. Per Cohen (A91.1.b, Vol. I, p.330) and our own experience, first state copies with a five-line front cover and smooth cloth are less common than those bound in coarse cloth. This is such a copy, bound in the smooth cloth.
This copy is in very good overall condition, notable for especially bright, clean contents – remarkably clean for the edition. We find no spotting, no previous ownership marks, and no appreciable age-toning. We note only mild dust soiling to the top edges. The plum cloth binding remains tight and square, with flaws endemic to the edition, but nonetheless sound, complete, presentable, and unrestored. The spine is sunned as usual, but nonetheless retains a good amount of its plum hue and clearly legible gilt print. The binding is also cleaner than typical, with only minor blemishes. The corners remain sharp, despite mild shelf wear to extremities. The spine ends show wrinkling and there is a short, cosmetic split to the spine cloth at the lower rear joint.
My Early Life covers the years from Churchill’s birth in 1874 to his first few years in Parliament. One can hardly ask for more adventurous content. 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… as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. (p.60)
By the end of his own twenty-fifth year, Churchill had been one of the world’s highest paid war correspondents, published 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 eminently forgivable, in keeping with the wit, pace, and engaging style that characterizes the book.
Reference: Cohen A91.1.b, Woods/ICS A37(aa), Langworth p.131. Item #007686
Price: $1,250.00