John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough | Atlas to the Memoirs of John Duke of Marlborough... London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820

John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough

Atlas to the Memoirs of John Duke of Marlborough; Containing Armorial Bearings, Facsimiles, Maps, and Military Plans. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820

4to. 22 plates, including armorial bearings, maps, and military plans. Full brown calf, spine gilt-lettered, marbled endpapers; repairs to spine with some loss to label, some rubbing and scuffing to extremities and boards, some fading to endpapers and fore-edges, spine has been repaired with some loss to the lower title label.

9 x 11 inches.

FIRST EDITION, WITH A "WINSTON CHURCHILL" LEATHER-BACKED BOOKPLATE LAID-IN

This represents the seventh volume for The Memoirs of John Duke of Marlborough, published in 1820. The Atlas volume is comprised of plates and fold-out maps. Loosely laid-into the book is a leather-backed bookplate imprinted: “Ex Libris: Winston Churchill” over a line-drawing of St. George—the patron Saint of Great Britain—slaying the dragon. John Churchill, as the first Duke of Marlborough, was awarded in 1661 an augmentation of honour to his family arms in the form of a canton of St. George, in recognition of his services to King Charles I (as Captain of the Horse), and his loyalty to King Charles II (as a Member of Parliament). Churchill’s own attachment to St. George was manifested throughout his life and career; during World War II he often invoked the emblematic image of St. George slaying the dragon. According to Churchill's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill did not utilize his own bookplate, so far as we know.

PROVENANCE:

Winston Churchill (armorial bookplate laid-in)