“CHURCHILL AT HIS DAZZLING BEST”

CHURCHILL, Winston S. My Early Life: A Roving Commission. London: Thornton Butterworth, (1930). Octavo, modern full red morocco, raised bands, spine gilt-decorated with Churchill lion emblems, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $2200.

First edition of Churchill’s acclaimed autobiography, abundantly illustrated with maps (one folding) and photographic plates, elegantly bound by Bayntun (Riviere).

My Early Life covers the first 25 years of Churchill's life, to the beginning of his parliamentary career. Included are accounts of his childhood; his active service in Cuba, the North West Frontier, and Omdurman; and his exploits during the Boer War, detailing his famous escape from the Boers as a prisoner of war. In this autobiography "Churchill records his experiences in words which will live as long as any 20th-century author is read… My Early Life was one of the two Churchill works excerpted by the Nobel Library—for Sir Winston's 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature was won not for his war memoirs but the totality of his work. This book presents Churchill at his dazzling best as chronicler and memoirist" (Langworth, 130). Cohen A91.1.c. Langworth, 131. Woods A37(a). Bookplate.

Interior about-fine with a few instances of faint foxing; morocco binding near-fine with small mark to front board, very mild toning to spine, boards just slightly spreading.