Thoughts and Adventures, magnificently bound in full Morocco and slipcased
London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1932. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is an exquisitely finely bound first edition, first printing of Churchill's collection of 23 engaging essays on an incredibly wide variety of subjects. Thoughts and Adventures has been called "The broadest range of Churchill's thought between two hard covers" and reflects the two qualities that so characterize Churchill's life - a remarkable breadth of both mind and life experience.
The elegant, dark green, full Morocco goatskin binding features a hubbed spine with gilt-rule framed and decorated bands, gilt rules at the spine head and tail, Churchill’s ancestral Marlborough arms in gilt on the front cover, and a red calf spine label. The contents are bound with all edges gilt, a green silk ribbon marker, gold and green silk head and tail bands, and elaborately gilt-tooled turn-ins framing sumptuous marbled endpapers. This compellingly handsome example of the fine binder’s craft is a reminder to collectors that not all fine bindings are created equal. The volume is housed in a stout, green buckram slipcase with Churchill’s ancestral Marlborough arms in gilt on the right side.
Condition is magnificently fine. The exceptional binding shows no wear or blemishes. The first edition contents are well suited to the binding, immaculately crisp and clean with no spotting or previous ownership marks. The gilt page edges are likewise pristine. The slipcase is in fine condition.
An original blurb for Thoughts and Adventures encapsulates – as far as is possible – the wide range of the chapters within: “These true stories concern such things as the tides that make a politician change his mind; the domination of chance in human lives; the cartoonists who mocked Churchill; the chances and events that occurred while he was in the trenches; phases of the war seen from intimate participation with the high commands; flying experiences in 1912; the Irish; the future; and contemporary change." In a 31 May 1932 letter to his publisher about the book, Churchill characterized it thus: "...although there is no one single theme, it has some of the best things in it I have ever written."
Reference: Cohen A95.1.a, Woods/ICS A39(aa.1), Langworth p.156. Item #007457. Item #007732
Price: $2,000.00