The River War, An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing, of Churchill's second published work, the lengthiest from his time as an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent during the waning days of Queen Victoria’s reign.
This first edition is not only compellingly written, but also physically beautiful. The two large, lavish volumes are decorated with gilt representations of the Mahdi's tomb on the spines and a gunboat on the front covers. Each volume is printed on heavy paper with a profusion of illustrations, maps, and plans. They are also scarce; there were 2,000 copies of this first edition, first printing. Moreover, this is one of the few Churchill books for which there was no concurrent U.S. first edition.
This first edition, first printing is an unrestored, wholly intact set in the striking, original bindings. Condition is very good. The bindings are not only bright, with no dulling of the illustrated spines, but also refreshingly tight, with just a hint of the typical dimpling at the upper spines from the massive weight of the text blocks. We note light shelf wear to extremities and light overall scuffing and blemishes, including faint instances of discoloration, as well as a horizontal binding flaw to the upper Volume I front cover, a touch of abrasion to the lower Volume II front cover fore edge, and some wrinkling and wear to the spine ends. Shelf presentation is nonetheless quite good for the edition.
The contents are quite good for the edition, bright and complete. The original black endpapers are present, as are all of the extensive maps and plans, as well as the frontispiece portraits and tissue guards. Of note, the black endpapers show not even a hint of the usual gutter splits, the contents unequivocally secure in the originally bindings. We find no previous ownership marks. The only internal defect noted is spotting, endemic to the edition, and here appreciable only to the prelims and occasional leaves and folding maps intermittently within. This is not a fine set, but it is entirely original, complete, fully intact, and quite handsome, wearing its age with more grace than most sets we encounter.
Volume I of first edition, first printing sets often contains a publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear. Churchill’s bibliographer, Ron Cohen, speculates that copies lacking the catalogue were likely "destined for sale in either the American or other overseas markets." This set includes the Volume I publisher’s catalogue.
The Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed, was a messianic Islamic leader in central and northern Sudan in the final decades of the 19th century. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of the capitol, Khartoum. Though the Mahdi died that same year, his theocracy continued until 1898, when General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan. With Kitchener – to his vexation – was a very young Winston Churchill, who participated in “the last great British cavalry charge” during the battle of Omdurman in September 1898, where the Mahdist forces were decisively defeated. Writing about the British campaign in the Sudan, Churchill - a young officer in a colonial British army - is unusually sympathetic to the Mahdist forces and critical of Imperial cynicism and cruelty. This work offers us the candid perspective of the future 20th century icon from the distinctly 19th century battlefields where Churchill learned to write and earned his early fame. The text is arresting, insightful, powerfully descriptive, and of enduring relevance.
Reference: Cohen A2.1.b, Woods/ICS A2(a.1), Langworth p.29. Item #008259
Price: $4,800.00