Coming Men on Coming Questions, including "Winston Churchill, Past, Present, and Future." by William T. Stead and "Why I Am A Free Trader." by Winston S. Churchill.
London: Review of Reviews / William T. Stead, 1905. First edition. Hardcover. This scarce 1905 publication contains a 17-page piece by Winston Churchill on Free Trade preceded by a 3-page biographic sketch and a striking, full-page, half-tone portrait of Churchill. In addition to the publication of Churchill’s image and exposition on a defining issue of the day, the editor’s sketch is one of the earliest substantive biographic portraits of the then-31-year-old Churchill.
This volume was perishably bound in thin, quarter tan cloth over gray paper covered cardboard covers with a pasted paper spine label. It measures 10 x 6.375 inches (25.4 x 16.2 cm) and numbers 476 pages. “Why I Am A Free Trader” by Churchill spans pages 4-20, with the Editor William T. Stead’s biographic portrait “Winston Churchill, Past, Present, and Future” spanning pages 1-3, preceded by Churchill’s photographic portrait by E. H. Mills titled “Mr. WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, M.P.”
Given the scarcity of the publication and the fragile nature of the binding, this copy is in respectable condition. The binding remains tight. The gray card covers are worn at the edges and corners with various soiling and staining, but still intact. The spine cloth is worn at the ends and splitting along the rear hinge and lower front hinge, but binding integrity is not affected. The original paper spine label is still fully intact with no loss, though it appears as if the "C" in "Coming" may have once been carefully traced over with black ink. The contents are generally clean and bright. Light spotting is primarily confined to the front free endpaper. There is a previous owner's illustrated bookplate on the front pastedown. There is also some numerical notation in pencil to the Elections tables at pages 297 and 302 and a correction of a constituency designation "North" crossed out and replaced with "South" on page 303. We also find some light pencil underlining in the bibliographic sketch of Campbell-Bannerman at pages 81-82. The pencil notations give the impression of being contemporary to the publication.
Churchill's piece was – quite intentionally - the first of 26, each a "brief character sketch of a coming man, with his latest portrait, and a statement of his views upon a leading question of the day". Each of the 26 parts had been published earlier in the year as individual pamphlets before being collectively published in late 1905 in this single volume "issued in view of the coming General Election". In the 1906 election Churchill stood as a Liberal, having left the Conservative Party of his father. Free trade was a major issue upon which Churchill campaigned and a precipitating issue in his parting with the Conservatives.
In this volume publication, the Editor ranked Churchill as "the first of our coming men" stating that "If he chooses to take it, a seat in the next Cabinet is at his disposal." Stead spoke of Churchill’s political precocity, his Anglo-American heritage, and his experience as a journalist and in combat before chronicling the first years of his political career, commenting in some detail, and even describing Churchill’s speaking style – “a somewhat curious catch in his voice, which does not in the least prevent his being heard with ease by the largest audiences.” Stead also compared Churchill to a number of political predecessors and contemporaries, including Pitt, Chatham, and Churchill’s father, as well as Lord Hugh Cecil, and David Lloyd George. Stead said of Churchill "he has got ten years' start on all his competitors" and that "Winston's past has been variegated. His present is exciting."
This publication is not only quite scarce, but is also a remarkable portrait of the future great man while his greatness was still merely nascent. When Stead published this biographical sketch and numbered Churchill “Coming Man, No. 1”, Churchill had less than half a decade in Parliament and had yet to serve in Cabinet. He had yet to experience was still a remarkable 35 years distant from his first premiership.
Reference: Cohen B3, Woods B2. Item #008148
Price: $2,750.00