Item #008304 The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French). Captain James Humphrey Cotton Minchin.
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)
The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)

The Legion Book, an extraordinary copy of the limited issue of the first edition, finely bound and signed by 85 prominent contributing writers and artists and 4 prime ministers (three British and one French)

London: Privately printed by The Curwen Press for H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, 1929. First edition, limited issue, signed. Full leather. This is the beautiful and rare limited, finely bound issue of the first edition, signed by 89 individuals comprising a stunning constellation of leading lights in British literature and arts, including all of the contributing writers and illustrators, as well as four prime ministers, three British and one French.

The First World War is often eclipsed by the world-consuming conflagrations of the latter part of the twentieth century, notably the Second World War and Cold War. But it was the First World War that truly stunned civilization, ushering an age of inconceivable carnage and vast, industrialized brutality. When war came in August 1914, prevailing sentiment held that industrialized war would be decisive and short. “You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees,” Kaiser Wilhelm assured his troops leaving for the front in August. More than four extraordinarily bloody years followed, lasting until the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. In his own history of the First World War, Winston Churchill wrote: “Overwhelming populations, unlimited resources, measureless sacrifice… could not prevail for fifty months…”

The British Empire alone suffered nearly 3.2 million casualties, including more than 900,000 dead and more than 2 million wounded. At the end of the First World War, the pension for a totally disabled man was only 30 shillings a week and no claim could be made seven years after discharge. In May 1921 several ex-servicemen’s organizations were amalgamated to form the Royal British Legion. Thereafter, the Legion actively involved itself with the social issues of employment and pensions for both able and disabled ex-servicemen or their dependents.

The Legion Book was commissioned by the Legion’s patron, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and, after his abdication, the Duke of Windsor), with sale proceeds dedicated to the Legion. The 85 contributing artists were among the most talented British subjects in their fields, including Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling, P.G. Wodehouse, Aldous Huxley, Vita Sackville-West, G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, Augustus John, Eric Kennington, and John Nash. The book was edited by James Humphrey Cotton Minchin (1894-1966), a First World War veteran of the Cameronians and the Royal Flying Corps. Trade editions ran to multiple printings, but there was also a 600-copy limited edition. 500 of these were signed by the editor, but “the first 100 were reserved for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, sponsor of the volume, in his gift.”

These hundred were simply magnificent - printed in red and black by The Curwen Press on larger, hand-made paper, profusely illustrated, beautifully bound in elaborately blind and gilt-tooled white pigskin, and signed by 89 luminaries. Massive volumes, they measure 13 x 10 x 2 inches and weigh 6.6 pounds. As specified at the end of the Contents, "There are five pages of contributors' signatures following the Dedication, one page opposite Collotype No. 3 and one page opposite Collotype No. 20." The only contributor unable to sign was John Singer Sargent, who died in 1925.

This is a fine example of one of these hundred copies, rendered particularly special by being an unnumbered copy in exceptional condition, preserved in the original folding cloth clamshell box. 85 contributing artists signed this copy. Four additional signatures are those of three British Prime Ministers – David Lloyd George, Stanley Baldwin, and Ramsay MacDonald – and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. The tally is five prime ministers if we count Churchill, who signed as a contributor, but would become prime minister himself in 1940. Signatures appear on seven different pages within. The binding is truly magnificent, with virtually no wear and only trivial hints of soiling, staining, and minimal handling. The contents are bright and clean, with trivial spotting confined to the endsheets. The limitation page bears no number; we have not encountered another copy thus. Superlative condition owes to the presence of the original felt-lined cloth clamshell case. The case shows modest scuffing and staining, and some spotting of the felt lining.

Reference: Cohen B38.1, Woods B12(a). Item #008304

Price: $17,500.00

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