"CHURCHILL'S LAST GREAT WORK": HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES, WITH A TYPED LETTER SIGNED BY CHURCHILL TO AN ADMIRED SCULPTOR

CHURCHILL, Winston. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. WITH: Typed Letter Signed by Churchill. London: Cassell, (1956-58). Four volumes. Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jackets. T.L.s on one sheet of laid paper, 7-1/2 by 9-1/2 inches, typed on recto for one page, with original envelope, housed in separate portfolio.

First English editions of Churchill's classic history, illustrated with maps and genealogical tables, in the original dust jackets. Accompanied by a typed letter signed by Churchill, dated 1956, thanking his friend Herbert Haseltine, a world-renowned sculptor whom Churchill admired, for the gift of a book.

Churchill believed that "Every nation or group of nations has its own tale to tell. Knowledge of the trials and struggles is necessary to all who would comprehend the problems, perils, challenges, and opportunities which confront us to-day… It is in the hope that contemplation of the trials and tribulations of our forefathers may not only fortify the English-speaking peoples of to-day, but also play some small part in uniting the whole world, that I present this account." "Churchill's last great work was published nearly 20 years after he penned its first draft in the late 1930s, just after wrapping up [the biography of] Marlborough. This enabled him to utilize the literary team he had assembled for the biography, to which he added dozens of outlines he had solicited from scholars… In its final form the original single volume evolved to four, each of which was published simultaneously in Britain, the USA and Canada—a first for Churchill's works" (Langworth, 312).

The typed letter, dated 10 March 1956, on Churchill's Hyde Park Gate letterhead, reads: "Dear Mr. Haseltine, It was indeed kind of you to send me a copy of Mrs. Bowden's biography of your famous father. I look forward to reading it with much pleasure. Thank you so much for thinking of me. With good wishes, [In manuscript]: Yours very sincerely, Winston S. Churchill." Accompanied by the original envelope, addressed to Haseltine in Paris. The recipient Herbert Haseltine (1877-1962) was a French-American sculptor whose works, generally of animals or equestrian, are exhibited today across the world, including the equestrian statue of George Washington outside the Washington National Cathedral. From 1947 he was resident in France, maintaining a rich social life with close connections to many members of European and American high society. He corresponded with Churchill for many years, sending him examples of his work, and produced for the statesman a bronze cast of Clementine Churchill's hand and of Churchill's poodle Rufus. Churchill, an amateur artist himself, wrote many times to praise Haseltine's artistic skill and to commend his work, and exhibited a Haseltine horse statue in his dining room for many years. His father was the painter William Stanley Haseltine, a biography of whom the letter here refers.

Churchill contributed two forewords to exhibition catalogues of Herbert Haseltine's work, in the first declaring "in sculpture… I give my vote unhesitatingly to the perfection of physical detail which makes Mr. Haseltine's bronze animals such a joy to behold and such a treasure to own… He combines, to a degree that must surely have been rare at all times, the inspiration of the artist not only with a tireless application to detail but with a deep and expert technical knowledge of the subjects he has chosen to depict" (Exhibition of Sculpture, May 28th to June 27th, 1953). Cohen A267.1.a. Woods A138(a). Langworth, 312-317. Ownership signature in Volume I.

Books fine, dust jackets with minor edge-wear and soiling, near-fine. Desirable with a signed Churchill letter.