The World Crisis, full set of six British first edition, mixed printings.
London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1923. First edition, mixed printings. Hardcover. This is a full British first edition, mixed printing set of Winston Churchill’s history of the First World War. As a point of interest, this set features contemporary British First World War veteran provenance.
A quarter of a century before the Second World War endowed him with lasting fame, Churchill played a uniquely critical, controversial, and varied role in the “War to end all wars”. Then, being Churchill, he wrote about it. The World Crisis was originally published in six volumes between 1923 and 1931, the first four volumes spanning the war years 1911-1918 and the final two volumes covering the postwar years 1918-1928 (The Aftermath) and the Eastern theatre (The Eastern Front).
With its larger volumes and shoulder notes summarizing the subject of each page, many consider the British edition aesthetically superior to the American. Unfortunately, the smooth navy cloth of the British first editions proved quite susceptible to wear, the contents prone to spotting and toning. Full, six-volume British first edition sets can be challenging to assemble. Complicating such efforts for collectors, there were only two printings of the final volume, The Eastern Front, which was produced in smaller numbers than the preceding volumes.
The six volumes of this set are each in very good or better condition, all volumes sound and complete with quite respectable shelf presentation, though variously showing a bit of typical wear and endemic flaws. The 1911-1914 volume is first edition, third printing (issued in the same month as the first and second printings). The 1915 volume is the first edition, fifth printing of May 1927. The 1916-1918 Part I & Part II volumes are both first edition, second printing (issued the same month as the first printing). The Aftermath is first edition, first printing. The Eastern Front is the second and final printing of the first edition (issued the same month as the first printing).
All six navy cloth bindings are square and tight with bright spine gilt and no color shift between the covers and spines. All show varying degrees of superficial scuffing and wear. Of note, The Eastern Front, the most elusive of the volumes, is a particularly clean and bright example. Also of note, The Aftermath shows very little of the blistering of the cloth typical of this particular volume, in this case minor and confined to the rear cover fore edge and joint.
The contents of all six volumes are complete. The first volume, 1911-1914, features the armorial bookplate of “Arthur F. R. Wiggins” affixed to the front pastedown and, on the facing front free endpaper recto, five lines inked: “A. F. R. Wiggins. | Grenadier Guards. | Chelsea Barracks, | London, S.W. | June. 1923.” Captain A. F. R. Wiggins appears in the Roll of Officers of the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, listed in Sir Frederick Ponsonby’s The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914-1918 (Macmillan, 1920). The only other previous owner evidence we find in the set dates from half a century later – “John Francis. | Norbury. 1974.” inked on the front free endpaper recto of each of the 1916-1918 volumes. A small, printed bookseller’s ticket is affixed to the lower right front pastedown of The Eastern Front (“Hugh Rees Ltd.”, a London bookseller active from the early to mid-twentieth century).
The contents of all six volumes are complete, including all maps, charts, diagrams, etcetera, as well as the eight illustration plates and color folding map in The Eastern Front. Spotting, endemic to the British first editions, is present in the first five volumes, though substantially confined to the prelims and page edges. Of note, The Eastern Front appears entirely free of spotting.
The set is housed in a navy cloth-covered slipcase, the right side of which is gilt-stamped with the Churchill coat of arms, title, author, and original dates of publication (1923-1931). The top panel of the slipcase is slightly creased, the white paper-lined interior showing some soiling and spotting. Please anticipate being charged actual postage for this substantial set.
Churchill was in a special position to write the history of the First World War, which nearly cost him both his political and corporeal lives. First Lord of the Admiralty from 1911 until 1915, after the Dardanelles disaster, Churchill was scapegoated and forced to resign. He spent political exile as a lieutenant colonel of a battalion in the trenches. Before war's end, Churchill was exonerated and rejoined the Government, foreshadowing the political isolation and restoration he would experience nearly two decades later leading up to the Second World War. Despite Churchill's political recovery, the stigma of the Dardanelles lingered. Hence Churchill had more than just literary and financial compulsion to write his history.
Reference: A69.2(I).e, A69.2(II).e, A69.2(III-1&2).b, A69.2(IV).a, A69.2(V).b; Woods/ICS A31(ab); Langworth p.105. Item #008882
Price: $1,250.00