vehicles and hide their petrol. Aside from complying with orders, the British people must be ready to resist – “In factories and shops, all managers and workmen should organise some system now by which a sudden attack can be resisted”. “Make sure that you understand the system of defence that has been organised and know what part you have to play in it”. The leaflet concludes “Think always of your country before you think of yourself”. 2 quarto single-sheet flyers (280 × 210 mm), text both sides. Presented in double-glazed oak frame. Old creases and toning, very good. ¶ Cohen B76; Woods A69. £1,250 [153380] 26 CHURCHILL, Winston S. The First Collected Works. Centenary Limited Edition. London: Library of Imperial History in association with the Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, 1973–76 superb set of churchill’s works First complete collected edition of Churchill’s writings, published to mark the centenary of his birth, a splendid and imposing set of the works of the great wartime leader and statesman, whose extensive writings in the varied fields of history, biography, fiction, and essays were rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. The Centenary Edition is the only complete collected works of Winston Churchill, reproducing his 50 books in 34 volumes. The Library of Imperial History went bankrupt before the projected run of 3,000 sets could be completed, so “the print run never exceeded 2,000 copies and only 1,750 sets were ever published” (Cohen). This set is number 119, with the limitation bookplate loosely inserted in the first volume. “The specifications were titanic: five million words in 19,000 pages, weighing 19 lbs, taking up 4.5 ft of shelf space. To achieve publication, 11 publishing houses in Great Britain, the United States and Canada released their individual copyrights in exchange for the promise that no other complete edition of Churchill works would be published until the expiration of international copyright in 2019” (Langworth). 34 volumes, octavo. Original full vellum with 22-carat gold blocking, including spine lettered gilt, armorial device to front covers and ruling to spines and front covers, marbled endpapers, printed on Archive Long-Life Text Paper, gilt edges. Housed in original green imitation leather slipcases
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stamped with the Churchill arms in gilt. Frontispieces, and folding maps and illustrations throughout. As usual, typical natural variation to the tone of the vellum and patches of discolouration and cockling to some volumes, slipcases a little tight with a few instances of peeling, still an excellent set. ¶ Cohen AA1; Langworth ICS AA1; Woods p. 391. £6,000 [158247] 27 CLANCY, Tom. The Hunt for Red October. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1984 inscribed copy of his first novel First edition, enthusiastically inscribed as such by the author on the half-title, “First Edition! Tom Clancy”. The Hunt for Red October , famously described as “the perfect yarn” by Ronald Reagan, was Clancy’s first novel and the debut of the character Jack Ryan. A film adaptation, directed by John McTiernan, was released in 1990 and starred Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. The book and film also led to two video games. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine and rear cover lettered in silver, blind-stamped decoration on front cover, grey endpapers. With dust jacket. Cloth bright, contents fresh. A near-fine copy in very good dust jacket, couple of nicks and short closed tears, small tape repairs to verso, mildly toned, but overall quite bright. £1,500 [157819]
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If the Invader Comes had been distributed by the government to civilians in June 1940 to prepare for an invasion by German forces, an invasion feared imminent in the month which saw both the Dunkirk evacuations and the fall of France. The chief purpose of the leaflet was to prevent panic, as fleeing civilians in Holland and Belgium had clogged up roads and frustrated the military response. “If you run away, you will be exposed to far greater danger because you will be machine-gunned from the air”. For the same end, the leaflet cautions against spreading or believing rumours. The public must avoid giving the Germans any help, follow all government instructions (but look out for German impostors), report anything suspicious, disable their motor
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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