CHURCHILL, WINSTON L.[EONARD] SPENCER, Sir
The World Crisis 1911-1914; The World Crisis 1915; The World Crisis 1916-1918 Part One and Part Two; The World Crisis. The Aftermath; The World Crisis. The Eastern Front. London: Thornton Butterfield, 1923-23-27-27-29-31. First English editions, this the set of The Right Honourable The Lord Boothby, with his discreet name stamp in the first four volumes, the fifth volume inscribed "To Bob/from/Winston S. Churchill/6.3.29" and the sixth "To Robert Boothby/from/Winston S. Churchill/Nov. 6 1931" [Churchill started to write "Bob, but deftly amended it). Six volumes, original dark blue cloth gilt. 9 1/8 x 6 inches (23 x 15.5 cm); [2], (vi), 536 pp.; xiii, 557 (3) pp; 292 pp.; (x), 589 pp.; 474, (2) pp.; 368 pp.; maps, etc. throughout. The covers and spines generally bright, the joints and hinges sound, very minor wear but in all an attractive set of exceptional provenance.
It was the advances and royalties on this work that enabled Winston Churchill to purchase Chartwell. As part of a long, illustrious (and occasionally scandalous) career, the recipient of this copy, Boothby, was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Churchill from 1926 to 1929, when the latter was Chancellor of the Exchequer. Copies of this major work on the First World War by Churchill inscribed to his inner circle at the time of publication are distinctly rare. Woods A31A.