June 22, 2015

Finest Hour 106, Spring 2000

Page 11

GUILDFORD, SURREY, MARCH 3RD— His many friends in Churchill and bookish circles mourn the death of our friend and colleague Michael Wybrow, Churchill collector extraordinaire, who created one of the finest collections in Great Britain and was also an active member of the Committee of ICS/UK for many years.

Michael Wybrow and Dalton Newfield were the world’s first Churchill specialist booksellers, both in business as early as the 1970s. Many collectors remember the book fairs Michael organised in the alley next to the Royal Academy, or met him at the Cafe Royale book fairs. Mark Weber recalls Michael’s collecting enthusiasm: “He left no stone unturned and had some remarkable schemes to acquire material. I remember him telling me that in the Sixties after Churchill died, he wrote to many titled people asking if they had programmes or memorabilia from any ceremonies involving Churchill. The result was a nice collection of tickets and leaflets on the various Freedoms of Cities and similar ceremonies honouring Churchill. What rich pickings he must have had back then.”

The greatest day I ever spent at Chartwell was with Michael Wybrow. Former administrator Jean Broome had kindly invited us on a “closed day” and, after a rousing ride out in his beloved Rover 3.5 V-8, we were turned loose to examine the book collection. We found many editions we had never laid eyes on before, particularly foreign language issues like the Brazilian, Spanish, even Turkish editions of the war memoirs. That day really was the spark that inspired me to write A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, published in time to send Michael a copy and show him the acknowledgement recalling our trip.

I doubt alas if he was able to read the whole book, for his eyesight had failed, and anyone who loves books can imagine how frustrating that would be. It is to his great credit, and an inspiration to his friends, that all he would ever say about his increasing infirmities was that they amounted to “a spot of bother.”

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“Some men when they die after busy, toilsome, successful lives leave a great stock of scrip and securities, of acres or factories or the good will of large undertakings,” Churchill once wrote of his friend F. E. Smith. Michael Wybrow, like F. E., “banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends, and they will cherish his memory till their time is come.” -RML