My Early Life, a publisher's pre-publication proof copy.
London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1930. First edition, first printing, first state, pre-publication proof copy. Wraps. This improbable rarity is a proof copy of Winston Churchill's autobiography of his early life. This is the only proof copy we have ever offered and one of only two of which we are aware.
This proof copy and the only other known to us are bound in plain, unprinted gray card wraps. While entirely blank and unlabeled, notionally indicating an early proof, this copy features the full text, including the half-title, title, and dedication pages, along with the table of contents, all maps and illustrations, and the index. Trim differs slightly from the first printing; the text block bulks approximately the same as the first printing and is roughly as wide, but is trimmed .25 inch shorter. Condition of this proof copy is good plus overall. The card wraps remain attached and the glued spine substantially attached, despite chipping along the hinges and at the spine ends. The covers show edge wear and wrinkling to extremities. The text is unmarked, with neither notes nor previous owner names. We find mild age-toning, just a hint of intermittent spotting, and the pages show a little wear to the corners, particularly to the initial and final leaves. The binding is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival mylar cover. The volume is housed in a stout slipcase covered in plum cloth, evoking the binding and dust jacket colors of the first printing.
For much of the twentieth century, book publishers produced preliminary copies of forthcoming titles, both for proofreading and for reviewers. These were often hastily assembled with uninspired paper or card covers. Many lacked indices and illustrations. Given both their cheap production and ephemeral purpose, few survive. Those that do often failed to age with grace. Proof copies of Churchill’s earlier works, beginning with The World Crisis (1923-1931), are not unknown to us, but they are quite scarce. For My Early Life – arguably the most enduringly popular of Churchill’s myriad books – proof copies are very rare indeed.
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.
'The earth is yours and the fulness thereof'.
Enter upon your inheritance, accept your responsibilities....
Don't take No for an answer. Never submit to failure...
You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true,
and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.
She was made to be wooed and won by youth." (MEL, p.74)
By the end of his own twenty-fifth year, Churchill had been one of the world’s highest paid war correspondents, published his first 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 pardonable, in keeping with the wit, pace, and engaging style that characterize the book.
Reference: Cohen A91.1.a, Woods/ICS A37(aa), Langworth p.131. Item #008137
Price: $2,500.00