Winston Churchill, Being an account of the life of the Right Hon. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill.
London: Mills & Boon, Limited, 1927. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing, quite scarce thus in the dust jacket. This early biography of Winston S. Churchill concludes during his service as Chancellor of the Exchequer. It provides an interesting view of Churchill in mid-career, more than a decade before he became Britain's wartime prime minister.
Condition is very good in a very good plus dust jacket. The navy cloth binding is tight and bright with sharp corners, vivid gilt, sharp corners, and only minor scuffs and blemishes and a slight forward lean. The contents are bright with no spotting and no previous ownership marks. The chief defect of this copy is absence of the blank preliminary preceding the half-title, and offsetting to the half-title recto from the pastedown glue. The dust jacket is quite elusive thus, entirely complete. The jacket shows mild wear to extremities, light, uniform toning to the spine, and small stain to the left of the price on the lower spine. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.
"Certainly no Party of which he is a member - be it a political Party or a dinner-party - ever lacks the spur of his stimulating personality. Age, if he ever grows old - which seems extremely doubtful - must mellow him... He no longer takes himself with such preternatural seriousness as in earlier years, but he is taken far more seriously by the world."
Published in late September 1927, the book was popular enough for a second edition the same year (really a second printing of the first edition), a third revised edition by a new publisher (Newnes) in 1936, and a fourth revised edition issued by yet a different publisher (Hutchinson) in 1940. It is quite interesting that the Churchill of 1927 drew this biographical attention with his "wilderness years" of the 1930s, two premierships, and the better part of four decades of his life still ahead of him. Clearly Churchill was aware of the book. He wrote to the author on Chartwell stationery dated 29 September 1927 (one day before publication of the book): "Although I would rather that nothing of this kind had been published, yet I should like to recognise the great consideration and courtesy with which you have treated me, and to thank you for all the friendly things you say".
The book’s author, Carl Eric Bechhofer Roberts (1894-1949), published under the pseudonym “Ephesian” and his name was not disclosed in print until the 1936 edition. Roberts was an author, barrister, and journalist who served with the 9th Lancers during the First World War and as Private Secretary to Churchill’s great friend, Lord Birkenhead, from 1924-1930.
Reference: Zoller A11.a. Item #008189
Price: $375.00