June 3, 2015

Finest Hour 112, Autumn 2001

Page 48

By David Druckman & Mark Weber


A Trove of Churchilliana

David Druckman has brought to our attention several collections of well known works which include more Churchill material than the casual browser may realize.

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The Anglo-Saxon Review

Lady Randolph Churchill’s fabulous hardbound literary magazine sold for $5 a copy and lasted ten issues (18991901). The Anglo-Saxon featured the best literary and society writers of its age. Each copy was bound in exquisitely tooled leather. The magazine is known to contain an important, rarely seen Churchill work, “British Cavalry” (volume 8). But there is also an unsigned favorable piece about Churchill (by his mother?) in volume 3, and Lady Randolph’s letters from the Boer War, sent from her Hospital ship the Maine (volume 5).

The Book of Public Speaking

First Edition. London: Caxton 1915. This excellent collection of great speeches is a mine of material that can still help guide and instruct public speakers by illustrating how the masters of oratory do it. The book is commonly seen in five volumes, but there is also a seven-volume edition which contains seven speeches by Churchill, one by Lord Randolph, and perorations by Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Kipling, Gladstone, Dickens, William Jennings Bryan, Washington, Lincoln and many more. Public speakers will also appreciate the thick collections of segues, jokes and punch lines contained in volume 7. Not commonly seen, but not expensive, this work is a superb addition to the comprehensive Churchill library. Here is a list of the Churchill speeches by volume/page number. *Speeches with asterisk do not appear in Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, edited by Robert Rhodes James, New York: 1974. (Volume:page)

1:295* Welsh Characters (IMar 1911)
2:83* The Press, lOJun 1909
3:32 Liberalism vs. Socialism, 4May 1908
4:64 Deny, llFeb 1913
5:151 Naval Volunteers, 14Dec 1912
6:235* Inauguration of a New Building, 2Feb 1914
7:312* Responsibilities of Office, 20 Feb 1912

About Books

Our column on news and travels in the bibliophile world by former editor Dalton Newfield was always eagerly greeted; herewith it revives with the help of Mark Weber, who with his wife Avril travels to England regularly in search of Churchill.

In April we drove north towards Cambridge, with our first stop at the old bookstore in Saffron Walden. Nothing scarce or expensive was sighted, but the sun appeared for a delightful pub lunch at a tiny village just north of Bishops Stortford, where again a listing in The Good Pub Guide proved accurate. Later that afternoon, we were fortunate to visit David Thomas, author of the book on Churchill and his Parliamentary constituency, Member for Woodford, who is better known as a naval historian. He has published a dozen titles over 40 years. We had a few of his early works and were pleased to have them signed. David was also active in Woodford politics and had delightful memorabilia from a time when the Tory faithful considered it a national priority to ensure that WSC was returned to the House each election.

The next day we drove south towards Portsmouth in order to view some Churchill books at a small local auction house. Their condition was poor, so we passed; they went instead to an obsessive purchaser for whom the buying experience seems to count more than the worth of the goods. At Portsmouth’s W Robinson, the books were stacked in great piles on the floor, obstructing access to many of the shelves. Nonetheless, careful digging in an aisle too narrow for turning resulted in a boxful of treasure, the best of which was a volume V of the Official Biography. After another yummy pub lunch, we called in at the home of L. L. (Tom) Thomas, whose house is named “Savrola.” Tom has a fantastic collection of Churchilliana, books, and magazines, so it’s always a treat to see his gems.

The Sunday bookfairs were busy but the offerings uninteresting. One dealer tipped me to The Second World War in a special binding. I found these under a dealer’s table, already sold before the fair had opened. It was the special publisher’s full black leather bindings, one of 100 presentation sets. This dealer had obviously not read the editor’s Connoisseur’s Guide, as he had priced them at just ยฃ80. They had been acquired from an old lady who had worked at Cassell’s for 50 years.

A day was spent in Central London. A pleasant lunch in the City with Churchill Center governor and associate David Boler preceded an afternoon visit to consign a few books to Sotheby’s. We learned that there was not a political sale this summer, but the July Sale of English Literature did have a selection of Churchill material.

We all thought that the Official Biography was completely out of print. Heinemann must have discovered some old copies in a warehouse, because we discovered some brand new copies of volume IV in a remainder shop on Charing Cross Road. Unfortunately they had only two left when we got there. I offered to buy as many more as he could obtain, but have not heard from the proprietor.

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