Edited by Harry Pirie-Gordon, with various unattributed contributors including T. E. Lawrence
A Brief Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force Under the Command of General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby
His Majesty's Stationery Office, Cairo: 1919
This is the record of the First World Wars Egyptian Expeditionary Force and their actions on the Near Eastern front. This copy belonged to the library of the British Armys Staff College, Camberley.The text contains unattributed accounts by T. E. Lawrence (1888-1935), who found fame as instigator, organizer, hero, and tragic figure of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, which he began as an eccentric junior intelligence officer and ended as "Lawrence of Arabia." This second English edition was issued swiftly following the first, but rather than the buff card binding of the first edition, which was published by "The Palestine News' in December 1918, this edition was slightly more durably bound, with an olive-gray linen spine over olive-gray paper-covered boards, and published by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1919. The copy is complete, intact, and unrestored, in very good minus overall condition. Provenance is noteworthy. The bookplate affixed to the front pastedown is that of the British Armys "Staff College, Camberley". On the plate are two ink-stamps, both in purple. An oval stamp is that of "STAFF COLLEGE LIBRARY" and date of "JAN 30 1922". An overlaying rectangular stamp reads, in two lines, "WITHDRAWN | H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE" with a crown intervening. The only other indications of provenance are a small library sticker on the upper spine and "D(5)II G" inked on the upper left front cover. Two superficial scars at the lower right of the front cover may indicate previous removal of an additional label.Despite ex-library status, this is a clean copy. The binding remains square, tight, and unfaded, with only modest wear to extremities and light overall soiling. The contents are respectably bright with no spotting."This book contains the order of battle and the campaign maps for the Near Eastern front of which Lawrences campaign was a part. Two pieces of text were written by Lawrence. The book is not always recognized as containing Lawrences work, as the pieces are unsigned." Together with the reports in the Arab Bulletin and in The Times, Lawrences contributions to this book are "his first published accounts of the Arab campaign. The publisher, The Palestine News, was the official newspaper of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and was edited by H. Pirie-Gordon" (OBrien) Created in 1916 to guard the Suez Canal, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force was an archetypal multi-ethnic, multinational British imperial formation composed of troops from across the empire including India, Australia, and New Zealand. During the First World War they evolved, as the E.E.F. campaigned against the Ottomans in Egypt and Palestine. This book records the E.E.F.s actions from July 1917 when General Allenby took command to October 1918 when the Armistice of Mudros ended conflict in the Middle Eastern theatre. In 1916, under the auspices of the British Arab Bureau, The Arab Bulletin was founded on the initiative of T. E. Lawrence to provide "a secret magazine of Middle East politics" intended to inform officials and military commanders. Here Lawrence first published his records of the Arab campaign, some of which were included in The Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Lawrence would later and most famously tell the full tale of his role in and perspective on the Arab revolt in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Reference: O'Brien A012
More from Churchill Book Collector
POLISH NAVY MAKES PRESENTATION TO MR. CHURCHILL” – An original Second World War British War Office photograph of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill meeting with representatives of the Polish Navy at 10 Downing Street on 2 November 1943
This is an original Second World War British War Office photograph of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill meeting with representatives of the Polish Navy at 10 Downing Street on 2 November 1943. Pictured, right to left, are Prime Minister Churchill, Vice Admiral Swirsky, Chief of the Polish Navy, Captain Stoklasa, Polish Naval Attache, and Commander Kodrebski, Chief of Staff of the Polish Navy.The gelatin silver print on heavy glossy photo paper measures 8 x 6 in (20.32 x15.24 cm). Condition is very good, the image clean and crisp, the paper showing only light wear, primarily confined to the corners. The verso of the photograph is quite informative. An ink stamp at the lower right clearly states that this is a "BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH" that was "ISSUED BY PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS AGENCIES LTD." to the left of the ink stamp is notation in pencil explaining how the image was stored in the archives: "file under the Poles not the PM". The balance of the verso is taken up by the original, quite extensive, original typed caption. This caption begins with an embargo date "FOR FIRST PUBLICATION DAILY PAPERS, WEDNESDAY, 3.11.43." The caption slip identifies this image as "BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH NO. BH. 21738 (XP) (War Office Photograph. Crown Copyright Reserved). The caption is titled "POLISH NAVY MAKES PRESENTATION TO MR. CHURCHILL." The caption text reads: "To commemorate the fourth anniversary of the co-operation of the Royal Navy and the Polish Navy, a presentation was made to Mr. Churchill by representatives of the Polish Navy. The presentation took the form of a silver plaque showing three Polish destroyers steaming to meet H.M.S. Wallace off May Island on September 1st, 1939, and was made by Vice Admiral SWIRSKI, Chief of the Polish Navy. The Presentation took place at 10 Downing Street on November 2nd, 1943. A similar ceremony took place at the Admiralty, when a replica of the plaque was presented to Mr. A.V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty. Picture shows Right to left, the Prime Minister, Vice Admiral SWIRSKI (Chief of the Polish Navy), Capt. STOKLASA (Polish Navy Attache) and Commander KODREBSKI (Chief of Staff, Polish Navy). (Picture issued November, 1943)". The embargo date is restated at the end of the caption: "FOR FIRST PUBLICATION DAILY PAPERS, WEDNESDAY, 3.11.43." This press photo once belonged toa newspapers working archive. During the first half of the twentieth century, photojournalism grew as a practice, fundamentally changing the way the public interacted with current events.Newspapers assembled expansive archives, including physical copies of all photographs published or deemed useful for potential future use, their versos typically marked with ink stamps and notes providing provenance and captions. Photo departments would often take brush, paint, pencil, and marker to the surface of photographs themselves to edit them before publication. Today these photographs exist as repositories of historical memory, technological artifacts, and often striking pieces of vernacular art. The World Crisis, the full leather Easton Press edition in six volumes
Winston S. Churchill This is a fine, full, six-volume set of the striking Easton Press leather bound edition of the history of the First World War written by the man who led Britain a quarter of a century later as Prime Minister during the Second World War. Winston Churchill played a critical, controversial, and varied role in "The war to end all wars". Then, being Churchill, he wrote about it. The World Crisis was originally published in six volumes between 1923 and 1931, the first four volumes spanning the war years 1911-1918 and the final two volumes covering the postwar years 1918-1928 (The Aftermath) and the Eastern theatre (The Eastern Front). His epic history of the conflict was originally published between 1923 and 1931. This edition is among the most aesthetically pleasing and reader-friendly editions to date. Easton Press publications are regarded for their production values. Standard features include full leather binding with raised spine bands, extensive gilt lettering and decoration, all edges gilt, satin ribbon page markers, archival paper, sewn pages, and moire fabric endsheets. This set is bound in full red leather with black title and author spine panels. The contents of this Easton Press edition present an ideal combination of features from the many editions of this critically acclaimed work; the text is from the first English edition, while the photographs are from the second American edition. The full color reprints of the original folding maps "are, if anything, better than the originals." (Langworth, p.112) Condition of this set is fine, virtually as new, clearly unread. The bindings are square, clean, bright, and tight, with no appreciable wear. The contents are pristine crisp and bright with a stiff, unread feel. The ribbon markers for each volume appear undisturbed, apparently still in the same position as when the books were shipped. The gilt page edges are bright and unblemished. Accompanying the set are six original Easton Press bookplates, still unaffixed and with no name yet written thereon.In October 1911, aged 36, Winston Churchill was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. He entered the post with the brief to change war strategy and ensure the readiness of the worlds most powerful navy. He did both. Even Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener, with whom Churchill had been variously at odds for nearly two decades, told Churchill on his final day as First Lord "Well, there is one thing at any rate they cannot take from you. The Fleet was ready." (The World Crisis: 1915, p.391) Nonetheless, when Churchill advocated successfully for a naval campaign in the Dardanelles that ultimately proved disastrous, a convergence of factors sealed his political fate. Churchill was scapegoated and forced to resign, leaving the Admiralty in May 1915. Years later, Churchills wife, Clementine, recalled to Churchills official biographer "I thought he would never get over the Dardanelles; I thought he would die of grief." (Gilbert, Vol. III, p.473) By November, Churchill resigned even his nominal Cabinet posts to spend the rest of his political exile as a lieutenant colonel leading a battalion in the trenches at the Front. Before war's end, Churchill was exonerated by the Dardanelles Commission and rejoined the Government, foreshadowing the political isolation and restoration he would experience two decades later leading up to the Second World War. Despite Churchill's political recovery, the stigma of the Dardanelles lingered. Hence Churchill had more than just literary and financial compulsion to write his history.This large, six-volume set will be shipped at cost. Reference: Cohen A69.19, Langworth p.111- $750
- $750
India, finely bound in three-quarter Morocco goatskin by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Winston S. Churchill This is a first edition, first printing finely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. India is a collection of ten Churchill speeches, part of his campaign against the India Bill over which he broke with his partys leadership. Though his cause was lost, these speeches are considered to contain some of the finest examples of Churchill's rhetorical brilliance.The binding features three-quarter red Morocco goatskin over red cloth. The spine features raised and gilt-decorated spine bands bracketed by blind rules, gilt-ruled compartments, a swan design in the upper compartment, title in the second compartment, author in the third compartment, and publication date at the spine heel. All transitions are gilt-ruled. The contents are bound with gilt top edge, silk head and tail bands, and marbled endpapers. "BOUND BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE, LONDON. ENGLAND" is stamped on the upper left corner of the front free endpaper recto. We find no previous ownership marks. Condition is very good plus. The binding is square, tight, bright, and clean with trivial shelf scuffing substantially confined to the corners and the bottom edges of the cloth panels. The first printing contents are well-suited to the fine binding. We find no previous ownership marks. Spotting, endemic to the edition, is quite light, primarily confined to the fore and bottom edges and just a few spots to the terminal leaves. India is, in many ways, an archetypal work of Churchills "wilderness years" in the 1930s, which saw him out of power and out of favor, unable to leverage the policies to which he nonetheless applied himself with characteristic vigor and eloquence. Churchill spent formative time as a young 19th century cavalry officer fighting on the northwest Indian frontier, about which he would write his first published book. He certainly did not adopt an early progressive attitude toward relinquishing control over the crown jewel of Britain's colonial empire. Nonetheless, it is instructive to remember that many of Churchill's dire warnings about Indian independence proved prophetic. Churchill had warned that too swift a British withdrawal from India would lead to bloody civil war and sectarian strife between Hindus and Muslims, Hindu domination, and destabilizing political balkanization of the subcontinent. All these predictions came to pass and, to a considerable extent, persist today.Nonetheless, relinquishing India seemed more than simply a matter of policy. There was perhaps more than just characteristic wartime defiance in his 10 November 1942 utterance, "We have not entered this war for profit or expansion Let me, however, make this clear I have not become the Kings First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire. For that task, if ever it were prescribed, someone else would have to be found." Someone else was found; Churchills wartime premiership fell to Labour in the July 1945 General Election, relegating Churchill to Leader of the Opposition. In that capacity Churchill addressed the House of Commons on 6 March 1947 regarding the Indian Independence Bill of Prime Minister Clement Attlees Government: "It is with deep grief I watch the clattering down of the British Empire, with all its glories and all the services it has rendered to mankind at least, let us not add by shameful flight, by a premature, hurried scuttle to the pangs of sorrow so many of us feel, the taint and smear of shame." On 15 August 1947 the Indian Independence Bill took effect, creating the independent nations of India and Pakistan and birthing the worlds most populous democracy in what was arguably the largest single act of political liberation in history. Independence also unfettered religious and communal strife that has lethally festered and flared ever since, claiming Gandhi himself in January 1948.Reference: Cohen A92.1, Woods/ICS A38(a), Langworth p.150.- $2,850
- $2,850
My Early Life: A Roving Commission, the first Macmillan Second World War reprint, finely bound in full red Morocco goatskin by Bayntun-Riviere
Winston S. Churchill This is a finely bound Second World War reprint of British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchills autobiography of his early life, published less than two years into Churchills wartime premiership.This copy is a compellingly handsome example of the fine binders craft, in full red Morocco by Bayntun-Rivière. The binding features hubbed spines with gilt-ruled compartments, gilt-decorated bands, and gilt-hatched spine ends. The spine features the title, author, and publication date. The covers feature gilt rule borders and gilt-decorated edges, the front cover gilt-stamped with Churchills facsimile signature. The contents are bound with all edges gilt, silk head and foot bands, and combed pattern marbled endpapers framed by generous, double gilt-ruled turn-ins with decorative corner devices. "BOUND BY BAYNTUN RIVIERE. BATH. ENGLAND." is gilt-stamped on the lower front pastedown turn-in. In 1939, the year the Second World War began, the firm of George Bayntun acquired the Rivière Bindery. The Bindery has been in residence on Manvers Street in Bath ever since.Condition is very good plus. The binding is square, bright, and tight, with sharp corners and no appreciable color shift between the covers and spine. We note only trivial soiling at the upper left of the spine and the slightest suggestion of wear to the raised bands and spine head. The contents are worthy of the binding, bright and clean with no spotting or previous ownership marks. The gilt edges remain bright, mildly scuffed.Churchill's extremely popular autobiography, covering the years from his birth in 1874 to his first few years in Parliament, was first published in 1930 by Thornton Butterworth Limited. Churchill would spend the decade out of power and out of favor, frequently at odds with both his Government and prevailing public sentiment. But in 1940, terribly vindicated by the outbreak of the Second World War and the failure of the leaders he had so long criticized, Churchill became wartime prime minister. And also in 1940, Thornton Butterworth went under and a different publisher, Macmillan, acquired the rights to several of Churchills books. Hence this 1941 reprint by Macmillan using the original first edition platesThis Macmillan issue was a simple but handsome production, in dark blue cloth with gilt spine print. There were ultimately four Macmillan printings of My Early Life between 1941 and 1944. This copy is the first printing (dated 1941 but actually issued in February 1942), aesthetically superior to the three that followed, being printed on thicker paper and thus being a significantly more substantial book than the subsequent printings. One can hardly ask for more adventurous content than the non-fiction (well, mostly) between the covers of My Early Life. Herein Churchill says:"Twenty to twenty-five! These are the years! Don't be content with things as they are. Don't take No for an answer. Never submit to failure. You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. She was made to be wooed and won by youth." (MEL, p.74)By the end of his own twenty-fifth year, Churchill had been one of the worlds highest paid war correspondents, published his first five books, made his first lecture tour of North America, braved and breasted both battlefields and the hustings, and been elected to Parliament, where he would take his first seat only weeks after the end of Queen Victorias reign.My Early Life remains one of the most popular and widely read of all Churchill's books. To be sure, Churchill takes some liberties with facts and perhaps unduly lightens or over-simplifies certain events. Nonetheless, the factual experiences of Churchills early life compete with any fiction, and any liberties taken are forgivable, in keeping with the wit, pace, and engaging style that characterize the book.Reference: Cohen A91.6.a, Woods/ICS A37(d.1), Langworth p.139 Macmillan issue from first edition plates, first printing.- $1,200
- $1,200
Ian Hamilton’s March, finely bound in full red Morocco goatskin by Bayntun-Riviere
Winston S. Churchill This is a finely bound British first edition, first printing of Churchills fourth published book. Ian Hamiltons March is the second of Churchills two books based on his newspaper despatches sent from the front in South Africa. This book and its preceding companion, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, are Churchill's final literary effort as an itinerant soldier and war correspondent before embarking on his storied political career. This is a compellingly handsome example of the fine binders craft, in full red Morocco by Bayntun-Rivière. The binding features hubbed spines with gilt-ruled compartments, gilt-decorated bands, and gilt-hatched spine ends. The spine features the title, author, and publication date, with a gilt lion rampant in each unprinted compartment. The covers feature gilt rule borders and gilt-decorated edges, the front cover gilt-stamped with Churchills facsimile signature. The contents are bound with all edges gilt, silk head and foot bands, and combed pattern marbled endpapers framed by generous, double gilt-ruled turn-ins with decorative corner devices. The publishers original front cover cloth is bound in at the rear."BAYNTUN RIVIERE BATH" is gilt-stamped on the lower rear turn-in. In 1939, the year the Second World War began, the firm of George Bayntun acquired the Rivière Bindery. The Bindery has been in residence on Manvers Street in Bath ever since. Condition approaches fine. The binding shows no reportable wear or blemishes. The contents are well-suited to the binding atypically clean with no appreciable age-toning and a pleasingly crisp feel. Spotting endemic to this edition is minimal, with only trivial, intermittent instances. The contents are bound with the original publishers catalogue dated "7/00". The frontispiece and tissue guard, as well as all maps and plans, including the folding map following the text, remain intact.In October 1899, the second Boer War erupted between the descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa and the British. Churchill, an itinerant, adventure-seeking young cavalry officer and war correspondent, swiftly found himself in South Africa with the 21st Lancers and an assignment as press correspondent to the Morning Post. Not long thereafter, on 15 November 1899, Churchill was captured during a Boer ambush of an armored train. His daring and dramatic escape less than a month later made him a celebrity and helped launch his political career.Churchill's first book of Boer War despatches, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, was published in England in mid-May 1900 and sold well. Ian Hamilton's March completes Churchill's coverage of the Boer War, publishing 17 letters to the Morning Post, spanning 31 March through 14 June 1900. The narrative in Ian Hamilton's March includes the liberation of the Pretoria prison camp where Churchill had been held. While London to Ladysmith via Pretoria had swiftly published Churchill's dispatches in the wake of his capture and escape, for Ian Hamilton's March "the texts of the originally published letters were more extensively revised and four letters were included which had never appeared in periodical form" (Cohen, A8.1.a, Vol. I, p.105). Churchill effected these revisions while on board the passenger and cargo steamer Dunottar Castle, which was requisitioned as a troop ship, en route home to England. Arriving home from South Africa in July 1900, Churchill spent the summer campaigning hard in Oldham, where he won his first seat in Parliament on 1 October 1900 in the so-called "khaki election". The British first edition of Ian Hamilton's March was published just a few weeks later.Reference: Cohen A8.1.a, Woods/ICS A5(a), Langworth p.59- $2,250
- $2,250
Memoirs of the Second World War
Winston S. Churchill This is the finely bound Easton Press edition of Winston Churchill's abridgement of his six-volume history of The Second World War, in pristine, as-new condition. There are no previous ownership markings or signs of wear or use. The book feels unread and the satin ribbon marker appears to remain in its original position. Laid in is the publisher's two-page "Collector's Notes" containing two pages of dense type including background on the author and his books and indicating that this publication was an installment in the publishers "The Leather-Bound Library of Military History" series. This is Churchill's history of the epic struggle that was so indelibly stamped by his leadership. Seldom, if ever, has history endowed such a statesman with both singular ability to make history and singular ability to write it. Churchill originally published his history of the Second World War in six volumes between 1948 and 1953. In 1959 a substantial abridged one-volume edition was published titled "Memoirs of the Second World War". This was not merely an abridgement, but a bibliographically significant work containing Churchill's last original writing for a book publication. Specifically for the edition Churchill wrote a 10,000 word Epilogue on the years 1945-1957 - years which include Churchill's second and final Premiership. Easton Press produced this edition from the U.S. first abridged and revised edition of 1959. Easton Press publications are sought for their high production values. Standard features include full leather binding, gilt lettering and decoration, all edges gilt, satin ribbon page markers, acid-neutral archival paper, sewn pages, and endsheets of moire fabric. Reference: Cohen A240.33- $250
- $250
The River War
Winston S. Churchill This is the handsome, Easton Press, leather bound edition of Churchill's second book. The River War recounts the experiences and reflections of a young Winston Churchill then still just an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent - concerning British involvement in the Sudan. This copy is in as-new condition, clearly unread with a stiff, fresh feel, ribbon marker still in the same position it was placed when bound. Laid in is the publishers "Collectors Notes" leaflet about The River War as an installment in the publishers "The Leather-Bound Library of Military History" series. In 1883, Mahdist forces of messianic leader Mohammed Ahmed overwhelmed the Egyptian army of British commander William Hicks and Britain ordered withdrawal from the Sudan. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of Khartoum, where he had been sent to lead evacuation of Egyptian forces. Though the Mahdi died that same year, his theocracy continued until 1898, when General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan. With Kitchener was a young Winston Churchill, who participated in decisive defeat of the Mahdist forces and the last "genuine" cavalry charge of the British army during the battle of Omdurman in September 1898. Writing about the British campaign in the Sudan, Churchill - a young officer in a colonial British army - is unusually sympathetic to the Mahdist forces and critical of Imperial cynicism and cruelty. This work offers us the candid perspective of the future 20th century icon from the distinctly 19th century battlefields where Churchill learned to write and earned his early fame. The text is arresting, insightful, powerfully descriptive, and of enduring relevance. Easton Press publications are sought for their production values. Standard to all volumes are full leather binding, gilt lettering and decoration, all edges gilt, satin ribbon page markers, acid neutral paper, sewn pages, and endsheets of moire fabric. This edition is bound in blue-gray leather with a hubbed spine and elaborate gilt decoration on the spine and covers.- $250
- $250
The River War, An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan
Winston S. Churchill This is an unusually well-preserved set of the first edition, first printing, first state of Churchill's second published work, the lengthiest from his time as an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent during the waning days of Queen Victorias reign. This first edition is not only compellingly written, but also physically beautiful. The two large, lavish volumes are decorated with gilt representations of the Mahdi's tomb on the spines and a gunboat on the front covers. Each volume is printed on heavy paper with a profusion of illustrations, maps, and plans. They are also scarce; there were 2,000 copies of this first edition, first printing. There were two states of the first printing, distinguished by a single typographical error in the divisional half-title on p.459 of Volume II, corrected in the second state by the addition of a single quotation mark following LONDON GAZETTE. This error seems to have been quite swiftly corrected; first state copies are quite scarce.This first state set of the first edition, first printing is very good plus. The original bindings are often both significantly worn and broken loose from their massive text blocks. In this case, the bindings are not only unusually bright and clean, but also still firmly anchored to the text blocks, with sharp corners and only mild wear. The gilt is bright, including the striking illustrations of gunboats and the Mahdis tomb on the front covers and spines. Shelf presentation is compelling, with no discernible color shift between the covers and spines. Wear is modest, including a little shelf wear to extremities, mostly at the spine ends, and a few trivial blemishes to the covers. The contents are quite good for the edition. The original black endpapers are present, as are all of the extensive maps and plans, as well as the frontispiece portraits and tissue guards. The contents are not only unusually tight, but the black endpapers show no hint of even cosmetic splits at the gutters. Spotting, the only appreciable defect, is intermittent throughout, generally light within the text, significant only to the prelims. Absent the spotting, we would grade this set as near fine.The sole previous ownership mark is the tiny booksellers sticker of "W. B. CLARKE CO. BOOKSELLERS & STATIONERS" of "Park St. Church, Boston" affixed to the lower Volume II front free endpaper recto. William B. Clarke (1848-1933) bought and renamed W. H. Piper & Co. booksellers in 1874 and seems plausibly the original seller of this set. Volume I of first edition, first printing sets often contains a publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear. Churchills bibliographer, Ron Cohen, speculates that copies lacking the catalogue were likely "destined for sale in either the American or other overseas markets." This set was originally bound without the catalogue, consistent with the vintage Boston bookseller ticket.The Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed, was a messianic Islamic leader in central and northern Sudan in the final decades of the 19th century. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of the capitol, Khartoum. Though the Mahdi died that same year, his theocracy continued until 1898, when General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan. With Kitchener to his vexation was a very young Winston Churchill, who participated in "the last great British cavalry charge" during the battle of Omdurman in September 1898, where the Mahdist forces were decisively defeated. Writing about the British campaign in the Sudan, the young Churchill was unusually sympathetic to the Mahdist forces and critical of Imperial cynicism and cruelty. This work offers the candid perspective of the future 20th century icon from the 19th century battlefields where Churchill learned to write and earned his early fame. The text is arresting, insightful, powerfully descriptive, and of enduring relevance.Reference: Cohen A2.1.a, Woods/ICS A2(a.1), Langworth p.29 First edition, first printing, first state.- $6,000
- $6,000
The Palestine Exploration Fund Annual 1914-1915 Double Volume. Including The Wilderness of Zin, the first work by T. E. Lawrence published in volume form In the original, first issue binding, not the nearly identical 1935 reissue
T. E. Lawrence This first edition, first issue is the first work published in book form of the man who would a few short years later be transformed from an eccentric junior intelligence officer into "Lawrence of Arabia". During the First World War Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935), just out of Oxford on an archaeology expedition with the British Museum, was summoned to Cairo where his experience in the language and geography of the region was put to use by the Foreign Office. There began his remarkable odyssey as instigator, organizer, hero, and tragic figure of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. This copy is the First (English) edition, in the first (1914) issue binding. Condition approaches very good plus, sound, complete, and free of any repair or restoration. The original quarter cloth and printed, paper-covered boards binding remains square and tight. Wear is remarkably light given the fragility of the boards, with only a hint of bruising to the rear cover corners, trivial hints of soiling, and a small stain to the blank lower rear board. Shelf presentation is excellent, the spine gilt bright and the cloth showing virtually no wear. The contents are complete, all of the extensive illustrated plates and accompanying tissue guards, as well as the maps, intact and perfectly preserved. Spotting is the only notable defect, heavy only to the endpapers, and otherwise substantially confined to the first and final leaves and the page edges. The sole previous ownership mark is an inscrutable "204 D" written in red pencil on the upper front pastedown.Lawrences initial engagement in the Middle East was entirely academic. "From 1911-1914 Lawrence was employed by the British Museum at an archaeological dig in northern Syria. The site, on the Euphrates, was known as Carchemish, a major Hittite centre. D. G. Hogarth, Lawrence's mentor, was instrumental in obtaining the position for Lawrence, who worked along with C. Leonard Woolley and P.L.O. Guy." It may be somewhat of an understatement to say that "The three summers Lawrence spent here were very influential in his later activities." (OBrien, p.4) "During January and February 1914, Lawrence and Woolley, in the company of a British Army surveying detachment led by Capt. Newcombe, under the guise of an archaeological survey, mapped the Negev region of the Sinai Peninsula, then under Turkish suzerainty. The British sought updated maps for the war they felt was coming."To complete the fiction of the archaeological work, Woolley and Lawrence wrote The Wilderness of Zin, the first of Lawrence's works to appear in book form. "K [Kitchener] (the only begetter of the survey) insisted on the Palestine Exploration Funds's bringing out its record of our archaeological researching, p.d.q. as whitewash. Woolley and I had instructions to get it done instanter." (Letters, p.181) Hence this publication.Collectors will note that "part of the original printing was left in sheets and bound for sale at a later date, probably upon Lawrence's death." The nearly identical 1935 reissue variant binding lacks the full stop after "1914-1915" on the spine. Additionally, Cape in England and Scribner's in America published the book in 1936 (the second English and First American editions, respectively) when many of Lawrence's publications were published or reissued. (OBrien, A004, pp.6-9) Lawrences contributions are identified in the Prefatory Note: "Mr. Lawrence is chiefly responsible for the second half of Chapter I (on Akaba); the first part of Chapter II; the account of the Darb el Shur in Chapter III; most of Chapter IV; and the concluding section only (Akaba) on Chapter V. The maps in the book were compiled by Mr. Lawrence The plates are from photographs taken by both authors." Lawrences contributions regarding "Akaba" are of particular note given his remarkable victory with the forces of the Arab Revolt in the Battle of Aqaba a few short years later in July 1917.Reference: OBrien A004 First English Edition, first issue binding.- $850
- $850
Easy To Kill
Agatha Christie This is a jacketed first printing of the first American edition. This example is very good plus in a very good dust jacket. The blue cloth binding is tight, clean, and unfaded, with sharp corners. The spine shows only mild wear to the ends and faint vertical creasing. The contents are crisp, bright, and clean with no spotting and no discernible age toning. The text block edges, including the untrimmed fore edges, are likewise exceptionally clean. The blue-stained top edges are lightly faded. The sole previous ownership mark is a contemporary name, British Columbia address, and date of "Jan. 6th. 1940" inked on the front free endpaper recto. The scarce dust jacket is clean and bright, despite light wear to extremities, flap folds, and joints, tiny loss to the spine ends and flap fold corners, and a three-inch closed tear to the lower front joint. The upper front flap is neatly price-clipped. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.From the dust jacket front flap: "Only one woman in this quiet English village scented murder. "It's very easy to kill," she told Luke Fitzwilliam, "if no one suspects you." But before she could name the killer, she, too, was struck down. And Luke, just back from police duty in the Straits Settlements, found himself facing a new kind of menace. "Accidental death," the coroner called it, when Amy Gibbs drank poison by mistake, Harry Carter slipped off the footbridge, and Dr. Humbleby died of an infection. But Luke had been a policeman too long to accept such a gruesome array of coincidence without wondering. When his curiosity got the better of him, and he undertook a private investigation, he expected to turn up something; but before the case was closed, he had unearthed more than even his most extravagant suspicions had warranted."Dame Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is the best-selling novelist of all time, most well known for her works of mystery featuring detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Born to a wealthy family in Devon, Agatha Christie spent her happy childhood within the pages of books, having taught herself to read at an early age. Following her fathers death she was sent to a finishing school in Paris. Upon her return to England in 1910 she found her mother ill so they set off to the warmer climate of Cairo for her recovery. This first experience in Egypt was a formative one for the future writer; archaeology, Egyptology, and the Middle East would serve as settings for many of her most famous works. Though Christie was writing through the 1910s and had a number of short stories published under pseudonyms, it would be a decade before her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was published.Agatha Christie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956 in honor of her contribution to British literature. Today Christies titles have sold over two billion copies, placing her behind only Shakespeare and the Bible in sales. Her play The Mousetrap has the longest continual initial run of any play, having been performed continuously in Londons West End since its opening in 1952.A Brief Record of the Advance of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force Under the Command of General Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby: https://rarebookinsider.com/rare-books/a-brief-record-of-the-advance-of-the-egyptian-expeditionary-force-under-the-command-of-general-sir-edmund-h-h-allenby/