- 26
Churchill, Sir Winston.
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Marlborough. His Life and Times. George G Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1933-38
8vo, first editions, limited issue, no. 3 of 155 copies signed by the author and specially bound, all four volumes inscribed by churchill to his friend the duke of windsor, frontispieces, plates, facsimiles, and folding maps, errata slips in volumes 1-3, original full dark reddish orange Niger by Leighton-Straker, spines with raised bands, fore- and bottom edges untrimmed, top edges gilt, upper covers with the Marlborough arms in gilt, marbled endpapers, minor wear to edges of binding, very small and neat repairs to covers of volume 1
"...I...offer...my heartfelt wishes that...in the long swing of events Your Majesty's name will shine in history as the bravest and best beloved of all the sovereigns who have worn the island Crown..." (Churchill, letter to the King, 2 February 1936)
a spectacular presentation set of the deluxe edition of churchill's life of his ancestor the first duke of marlborough: all four volumes inscribed by him to his friend edward viii (later the duke of windsor), the first three volumes in month of publication, with volume three inscribed "to the king". The full inscriptions are as follows:
[volume 1:] "To | The Prince of Wales | from | Winston S. Churchill | Oct. 19. 1933"
[volume 2:] "To | His Royal Highness | The Prince of Wales | from | Winston S. Churchill | Oct 21. 1934"
[volume 3: ] "To | The King | from | Winston S. Churchill | October 30. 1936"
[volume 4:] "For | The Duke of Windsor | from | Winston S. Churchill | Nov. 1954"
The inscription in volume 3 is triply significant, for aside from being to the reigning monarch and only a week after publication it comes three days after Edward VIII's future wife Wallis Simpson was granted her decree nisi in Ipswich: this freed her and Edward to marry, but also of course precipitated the grave abdication crisis which consumed Britain and much of the rest of the world in the autumn of 1936. Edward celebrated the event by immediately proposing marriage to Wallis and sealing his promises with a nineteen carat emerald engagement ring from Cartier, with the inscription "We are ours now 27 X 36" on the shank (sold at Sotheby's Geneva, 2-3 April 1987, lot 81). Given the history of friendship between the two men -- Churchill had been a frequent guest at the then Prince of Wales's supper and dancing parties in earlier years, and had always responded to his boyish charm -- it was natural that, at the height of the crisis (and with the permission of the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin) it was to Churchill, "as an old friend with whom he could talk freely", that the King turned for advice. On 4 December, the day after the British Press broke its self-imposed silence on the crisis, they met at Fort Belvedere (a house on the edge of Windsor Great Park), where Churchill was struck by the great strain under which the King was operating. There is no doubt that Churchill, despite originally having been strongly opposed to the Simpson divorce, subsequently very much took the King's side in the crisis (to a point which could have led to dangerous constitutional consequences, according to some historians), arguing that the King should be allowed a period of several months before making a decision. The Prime Minister (and the vast majority of the House of Commons) was very much of the opposing view, and Churchill was given one of the strongest rebuffs in parliamentary history when he tried to argue his case on 7 December, to the extent that he wondered if his political career was finished (see Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill. Volume V 1922--1939, p.825). On 10 December the Abdication Bill was debated in the House and the King signed the Instrument of Abdication in Fort Belvedere's Octagonal Drawing Room. The next day Edward's brother, the new King George VI, bestowed upon him the title of His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor, and the former King had another lunch with Churchill, where they discussed the text of the famous Abdication radio broadcast which Edward was to make that same afternoon at the BBC. Churchill added several phrases to the speech, among them "bred in the constitutional tradition by my Father" and "one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you and not bestowed on me -- a happy home with his wife and children" (Gilbert, op.cit., p.829). Edward's subsequent broadcast "caught the imagination of listeners all over the world. Churchill, listening to it at Chartwell..., was in tears. That same evening, the final stages of the Abdication Act having been completed, Edward left England as a private citizen to join Mrs Simpson in the South of France. Before leaving he telegraphed to Churchill: 'Thank you again for all your great help and understanding. Au Revoir. Edward' " (Gilbert, op.cit.).
Churchill subsequently assisted the Duke in his negotiations with his brother for a financial settlement in December 1936, resulting in an income adequate to living fashionably in Paris with a small household. Churchill is reputed to have felt duped by this process, since the Duke did not disclose his full assets (he had in reserve a considerable fortune), and this made for some distrust and unease in their later relationship. In July 1940 the Windors had fled France for Madrid and then Lisbon, where they were the subject of a plot by the Germans, organized by Ribbentrop, to kidnap the duke with a view to using him as the British Pétain. "Much speculation on the duke's likely actions has been based on evidence which assumes a more systematic approach to politics than was usual with him..." (H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford DNB). The Duke requested a position in Britain and recognition for his wife by the rest of the royal family. Thus it was that in Britain's "darkest hour" Churchill spent much time sorting out the duke's position (op.cit.). Instead Churchill offered the duke the governorship of the Bahamas. This he accepted, and the Duke and Duchess left Lisbon for the Bahamas on 1 August 1940. After the war Churchill repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to persuade the King to receive the Duchess in Britain, and to find the Duke another post (such as the governorship of Madras or Ceylon). The Duke did briefly return to Britain without the Duchess, but their life together after the war was spent chiefly in America and France.
Only three works inscribed by Churchill to the Duke of Windsor have been sold at auction, all at the sale of the Public Collections of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at Sotheby's New York on 23 Februrary 1998 (delayed from September 1997 following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales). These are a set of The World Crisis (lot 1386, $130,000), The Second World War (lot 1560, $16,000) and volume 4 only of the regular trade edition of Marlborough (lot 1388, $36,000). none of the other works bore the same inscription "to the King".
"...I...offer...my heartfelt wishes that...in the long swing of events Your Majesty's name will shine in history as the bravest and best beloved of all the sovereigns who have worn the island Crown..." (Churchill, letter to the King, 2 February 1936)
a spectacular presentation set of the deluxe edition of churchill's life of his ancestor the first duke of marlborough: all four volumes inscribed by him to his friend edward viii (later the duke of windsor), the first three volumes in month of publication, with volume three inscribed "to the king". The full inscriptions are as follows:
[volume 1:] "To | The Prince of Wales | from | Winston S. Churchill | Oct. 19. 1933"
[volume 2:] "To | His Royal Highness | The Prince of Wales | from | Winston S. Churchill | Oct 21. 1934"
[volume 3: ] "To | The King | from | Winston S. Churchill | October 30. 1936"
[volume 4:] "For | The Duke of Windsor | from | Winston S. Churchill | Nov. 1954"
The inscription in volume 3 is triply significant, for aside from being to the reigning monarch and only a week after publication it comes three days after Edward VIII's future wife Wallis Simpson was granted her decree nisi in Ipswich: this freed her and Edward to marry, but also of course precipitated the grave abdication crisis which consumed Britain and much of the rest of the world in the autumn of 1936. Edward celebrated the event by immediately proposing marriage to Wallis and sealing his promises with a nineteen carat emerald engagement ring from Cartier, with the inscription "We are ours now 27 X 36" on the shank (sold at Sotheby's Geneva, 2-3 April 1987, lot 81). Given the history of friendship between the two men -- Churchill had been a frequent guest at the then Prince of Wales's supper and dancing parties in earlier years, and had always responded to his boyish charm -- it was natural that, at the height of the crisis (and with the permission of the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin) it was to Churchill, "as an old friend with whom he could talk freely", that the King turned for advice. On 4 December, the day after the British Press broke its self-imposed silence on the crisis, they met at Fort Belvedere (a house on the edge of Windsor Great Park), where Churchill was struck by the great strain under which the King was operating. There is no doubt that Churchill, despite originally having been strongly opposed to the Simpson divorce, subsequently very much took the King's side in the crisis (to a point which could have led to dangerous constitutional consequences, according to some historians), arguing that the King should be allowed a period of several months before making a decision. The Prime Minister (and the vast majority of the House of Commons) was very much of the opposing view, and Churchill was given one of the strongest rebuffs in parliamentary history when he tried to argue his case on 7 December, to the extent that he wondered if his political career was finished (see Martin Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill. Volume V 1922--1939, p.825). On 10 December the Abdication Bill was debated in the House and the King signed the Instrument of Abdication in Fort Belvedere's Octagonal Drawing Room. The next day Edward's brother, the new King George VI, bestowed upon him the title of His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor, and the former King had another lunch with Churchill, where they discussed the text of the famous Abdication radio broadcast which Edward was to make that same afternoon at the BBC. Churchill added several phrases to the speech, among them "bred in the constitutional tradition by my Father" and "one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you and not bestowed on me -- a happy home with his wife and children" (Gilbert, op.cit., p.829). Edward's subsequent broadcast "caught the imagination of listeners all over the world. Churchill, listening to it at Chartwell..., was in tears. That same evening, the final stages of the Abdication Act having been completed, Edward left England as a private citizen to join Mrs Simpson in the South of France. Before leaving he telegraphed to Churchill: 'Thank you again for all your great help and understanding. Au Revoir. Edward' " (Gilbert, op.cit.).
Churchill subsequently assisted the Duke in his negotiations with his brother for a financial settlement in December 1936, resulting in an income adequate to living fashionably in Paris with a small household. Churchill is reputed to have felt duped by this process, since the Duke did not disclose his full assets (he had in reserve a considerable fortune), and this made for some distrust and unease in their later relationship. In July 1940 the Windors had fled France for Madrid and then Lisbon, where they were the subject of a plot by the Germans, organized by Ribbentrop, to kidnap the duke with a view to using him as the British Pétain. "Much speculation on the duke's likely actions has been based on evidence which assumes a more systematic approach to politics than was usual with him..." (H. C. G. Matthew, Oxford DNB). The Duke requested a position in Britain and recognition for his wife by the rest of the royal family. Thus it was that in Britain's "darkest hour" Churchill spent much time sorting out the duke's position (op.cit.). Instead Churchill offered the duke the governorship of the Bahamas. This he accepted, and the Duke and Duchess left Lisbon for the Bahamas on 1 August 1940. After the war Churchill repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, tried to persuade the King to receive the Duchess in Britain, and to find the Duke another post (such as the governorship of Madras or Ceylon). The Duke did briefly return to Britain without the Duchess, but their life together after the war was spent chiefly in America and France.
Only three works inscribed by Churchill to the Duke of Windsor have been sold at auction, all at the sale of the Public Collections of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at Sotheby's New York on 23 Februrary 1998 (delayed from September 1997 following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales). These are a set of The World Crisis (lot 1386, $130,000), The Second World War (lot 1560, $16,000) and volume 4 only of the regular trade edition of Marlborough (lot 1388, $36,000). none of the other works bore the same inscription "to the King".
Provenance
Edward VIII (later Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, 1894–1972), inscribed to him by Churchill; inherited by his wife Wallis, duchess of Windsor (1896–1986) upon his death; subsequently presented by her to their friend Edward Pope for his services to the Duke between 1963 and 1972; his widow Evelyn Pope, sold by her in New York in 1998 (copy of typed provenance signed by Eveyln Pope included with this lot)
The film-maker and writer Edward Pope came to know the Windsors through his late wife, Princess Niloufer of Turkey and Hyderabad, who was their close friend in Paris for several years.
Literature
Cohen A97.1.a ; Woods A40(a)
Condition
Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."