81 B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s “The Debut Of An Exciting New Talent”: Churchill’s First Book, The Story Of The Malakand Field Force 103. CHURCHILL, Winston. The Story of the Malakand Field Force, An Episode of Frontier War. London, 1898. Octavo, original apple-green cloth. $9800. First edition, first issue, of Winston Churchill’s first book, an account of his service with the Malakand Field Force in India, with frontispiece portrait of Sir Binden Blood and six maps, two of them folding and in color. When in the summer of 1897 a “Swati revolt threatened the British garrison holding the Malakand Pass” along the Afghanistan border, “Churchill caught the next boat to India” where he covered the events of the campaign for the Daily Telegraph (Manchester, 250). The book “was hailed as a minor classic, the debut of an exciting new talent, and… a penetrating study of Raj policy” (Manchester, 262). Without virtually unobtainable dust jacket, described as “presumed to have existed, no examples have been found” (Woods). Cohen A1.1.a. Text clean, cloth slightly darkened, much brighter and nicer than often found. An excellent, near-fine copy. “Every Act, Whether Of War Or Administration, Is Intended To Be Final” 104. CHURCHILL, Winston. The River War, An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan. London, 1899. Two volumes. Thick octavo, original gilt-stamped navy cloth. $11,500. First edition, first printing, of Churchill’s rare second book, one of only 2000 copies printed, in original cloth. “Hopping on a ferry, and not bothering to trouble his commanding officer in distant South India for leave, Winston turned up in the Abbasya barracks in Cairo on August 2, 1898, and joined the 21st’s A Squadron. He was fully outfitted, had bought a horse, and was, most important of all, equipped with a commission from the Morning Post to send dispatches at £15 a time” (Keegan, 46). This account includes 34 maps, 20 of which are printed in color and folding, and 58 illustrations, including tissue-guarded frontispieces, photogravure portraits, and numerous in-text illustrations. The maps and plans include various sections of the Nile, the Dervish Empire, etc. First printing, second state, with the final quotation mark after the words LONDON GAZETTE on page 459 of Volume II. Without dust jackets, so rare as to be unobtainable. Cohen A2.1.b. Owner signatures. Text and plates clean, inner paper hinges expertly reinforced, light edge-wear to front free endpaper of Volume II, cloth clean and fresh, gilt bright, near-fine and quite lovely.
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