One of 30 deluxe copies, hand-numbered in purple ink by Smithers 39 WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898 £25,000 [ 155423 ]
A keenly sought-after Churchill rarity, exceptionally well-preserved
40 CHURCHILL, Winston S. Mr. Brodrick’s Army. London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1903 £100,000 [ 158473 ] Quarto (224 × 161 mm). Original red printed wrappers. Together with a copy of A Bill to make further Provision for Defraying the Expenses of certain Military Works and other Military Services. (Prepared and brought in by Mr. Secretary Brodrick, Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Stanley) , 22 July 1903. Minor loss at two corners of front wrapper, spine discreetly repaired preserving the vast majority bar the chipped spine ends, title a little spotted and toned, some dust soiling to contents; a superb survival overall. The Bill fine, creased from folding. ¶ Cohen A10.2 (measuring 216 × 159 mm); Woods A6(b). Frederick Woods, Artillery of Words: The Writings of Sir Winston Churchill , 1992.
Octavo. Original quarter Japanese vellum, spine lettered in gilt, mustard yellow cloth sides, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Housed in a purple cloth flat-back box by the Chelsea Bindery. Printed on Japanese vellum. Mild dust-soiling to spine and sides, some bubbling to cloth where it meets the vellum, corners just bumped, sound and clean within, a very good copy. ¶ Hayward 312; Mason 372.
Exceedingly uncommon second edition, the only realistically obtainable contemporary edition, the first being known in just three copies (Trinity College, Toronto; Churchill College, Cambridge; the collection of the Marquess of Bath). Only two other copies of the second edition have appeared at auction in over 30 years, neither of which preserved the original wrappers. Mr. Brodrick’s Army begins with Churchill’s Commons speech on the New Army Scheme of 13 May 1901, his first major set-piece speech: “I took six weeks to prepare this speech, and learnt it so thoroughly off by heart that it hardly mattered where I began it or how I turned it”. This volume gathers together his interventions in opposition to St John Brodrick’s plans for increased military spending, “the very subject that had toppled his father” (Woods, Artillery of Words ). “Humphreys initially chose a cheaper production format in order to avoid the costs associated with the far more attractive second-edition format and that, when it became clear that sufficient demand existed for the work, he determined to produce it in a more appealing format which would justify the higher price, render the work more marketable and reduce the risk of loss” (Cohen).
First edition, number 11 of 30 deluxe copies printed on japon, specially bound with vellum backstrip, and hand-numbered in purple ink by Leonard Smithers. The 30 copies on Japanese vellum were published simultaneously with the paper copies, and priced at one guinea (£1 1s.), nearly 20 times the cost of ordinary paper copies at 2s. 6d. Mason notes that all 800 paper copies, together with 20 of the copies on Japanese vellum, were sold out within a few days, and a second edition was published on 24 February.
SIXTY FINE ITEMS
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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