Winston Churchill - Step by Step, British first edition, 1/2 leather

Description: Step by Step Winston S. Churchill London: Thornton Butterworth, Ltd., 1939 First edition, first printing Condition: Near Fine This is a finely bound British first edition, first printing of an important Churchill title - his last book published before the outbreak of the Second World War. The half-leather green Morocco goatskin binding (deferential to the original green cloth) features a hubbed spine with blind-rule framed raised bands, twin, gilt-ruled, dark red title and author spine labels, and a gilt lion rampant in each unprinted spine compartment. The sides are green buckram with double blind ruled transitions. The contents are bound with green and red silk head and tail bands. The cloth of the original cover and spine is bound in at the rear. Condition is near fine overall. The binding is square, clean, tight, and unfaded, with no discernible wear. Incidental blemishes seem inherent to the goatskin. The first printing contents are clean, with no previous ownership marks, no spotting, and modest age-toning. Only the page edges show any appreciable toning and soiling. Both maps are present and fully intact, the folding map following the text properly folded. Step By Step includes 82 newspaper articles focused on foreign affairs written by Churchill between March 1936 and May 1939 at the end of his "wilderness years". Many of them, of course, contain his warnings and predictions about Nazi Germany. Step By Step was published in June 1939. Only a few short months later, on the first day of September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Churchill had spent the better part of a decade politically isolated, frequently at odds with both his party and prevailing public sentiment. Now he was invited to join the War Cabinet, reprising his First World War role as First Lord of the Admiralty. Less than a year after Step By Step was published, in May 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister. As a measure of Churchill's prescience and ultimate vindication, when Step by Step was published Labour leader Clement Attlee, a political opponent who would replace Churchill as Prime Minister in late July 1945, wrote to Churchill, "It must be a melancholy satisfaction to you to see how right you were." Others were even more blunt. Sir Desmond Morton, military officer, government official, and appeasement opponent, wrote to Churchill, "Many years on, historians will read this and your speeches in Arms and the Covenant. They will wonder but I doubt they will decide what devil of pride, unbelief, selfishness or sheer madness possessed the English people that they did not rise as one man" and "call on you to lead them." Reference: Cohen A111.1.a, Woods/ICS A45(a.1), Langworth p.197. Ref #: 008067 CHURCHILL BOOK COLLECTOR We are Churchill Book Collector, a professional bookseller specializing in books and other published works by and about the great twentieth century statesman and acclaimed writer, Sir Winston Churchill. We offer both a singular inventory and approachable expertise. The integrity of our inventory is backed by our membership in the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Churchill's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, rightly called Churchill's long life "remarkable and versatile". Statesman, soldier, war correspondent, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, painter - Churchill was many things, but perhaps above all a master wordsmith. We’re here to help Churchill’s words find your shelves. Our extensive inventory features some of the rarest material offered – including fine first editions and inscribed copies – as well as reading copies and works about Churchill’s life and time. While we specialize in Churchill, our inventory also includes noteworthy first and collectible editions by other authors, ranging from Xenophon to T. E. Lawrence, spanning exploration and empire to twentieth century fiction. We are able to help with anything from finding individual books to assembling full collections, working closely with individual collectors to identify and accommodate their preferences and budget. We are also able to commission preservation cases and fine bindings. Please contact us if you have books to sell. We buy, and in some cases consign, fine and collectible individual items, as well as whole collections.

Price: 1200 USD

Location: San Diego, California

End Time: 2025-02-04T04:54:37.000Z

Shipping Cost: 20 USD