The Story of the Malakand Field Force, An Episode of Frontier War.
London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, Ltd., 1916. Third edition, only printing. Hardcover. This is an extraordinary copy – the best surviving example known to us - of the Shilling Library edition of Churchill's first book. Bibliographically the third edition (after the first of 1898 and the second, Silver Library edition of 1899), this edition was billed as a “cheap edition” during the First World War - a momentous time for Churchill which saw him serve both in the Cabinet and on the Front. This edition is a small, attractive book measuring 6.25 x 4.25 inches, bound in a bright blue cloth with blind rule bordered front cover, gilt-printed spine, and illustrated endpapers. Six maps are retained from the first edition, and there are 383 pages of small type. The edition was diminutive and fragile, and surviving copies typically show pronounced wear, soiling, and toning.
This copy is extraordinary first and foremost for retaining the extravagantly rare original dust jacket, which is printed in black and light yellow on thin, white paper and features a striking black-and-white half-tone photograph of Churchill on the front face. We know of only four surviving dust jackets. This copy is by far the best of these four known examples, both the cleanest and the only one that is nearly complete. Losses are negligible - a .25 x 1 inch irregular chip at the upper front face, fractional chipping to a maximum depth of .125 inch at the base of the spine, and incidental loss at the corners. The lower spine of the jacket carries two price reduction stickers, one atop the other, both obviously contemporary to original sale. The stickers may corroborate bibliographer Ron Cohen’s deduction (Vol. I, p.26) that copies continued to be sold into the early 1920s. The dust jacket is protected beneath a removable, clear, archival cover.
The volume beneath is as strikingly well-preserved as one might hope and expect a jacketed copy to be. The square, clean, and tight binding retains vivid blue color and spine gilt with no discernible color shift between the covers and spine. The corners are sharp and we note only a hint of shelf wear to the lower spine and corners. The contents remain uncommonly bright for the edition. Differential toning to the endpapers corresponds to the dust jacket flaps, confirming that this copy has spent life jacketed. We find no previous ownership marks. The page edges show some age-toning, but are otherwise clean. The mull is exposed in the gutter following the half-title, but the split is cosmetic only, not affecting binding integrity.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force recounts Churchill's experiences while attached to Sir Bindon Blood's punitive expedition on the Northwest Frontier of India in 1897. When this book was first published in 1898, Churchill was a young cavalry officer and war correspondent. While he had successfully applied his pen as a journalist, this was Churchill's first book-length work and he clearly labored over it: "I have discovered a great power of application which I did not think I possessed. For two months I have worked not less than five hours a day."
The young Churchill was motivated by a combination of pique and ambition. He was vexed that his Daily Telegraph columns were to be published unsigned. On 25 October 1897 Churchill wrote to his mother: "...I had written them with the design... of bringing my personality before the electorate." Two weeks later, his resolve to write the book firming, Churchill again wrote to his mother of the project: "...It is a great undertaking but if carried out will yield substantial results in every way, financially, politically, and even, though do I care a damn, militarily." Churchill certainly experienced plenty more of both politics and war in the 18 years that elapsed between the first edition and this First World War reprint.
Reference: Cohen A1.5, Woods/ICS A1(c), Langworth p.24. Item #008264
Price: $3,000.00