CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The World Crisis. A handsome set, inscribed by the author on the initial blank of the first volume, "To. W. H. Bernau from Winston S. Churchill 11 May 1923". The recipient William Henry Bernau (1870-1937) was Churchill's banker from 1919 to 1933.Bernau worked at Cox & Co., which was incorporated into Lloyds in 1923. Bernau had to constantly deal with Churchill's parlous finances and penchant for overborrowing and overspending. Indeed, Bernau allowing Churchill to repeatedly expand his loans and overdraft in the years preceding this inscription saved Churchill from financial crisis. Churchill's debt to the bank increased from £14,690 to £28,000 between 1918 and 1921, and Bernau approved a consolidation loan of £30,000 in 1922 (Lough, pp. 118, 131, 137). This readiness to expand Churchill's credit was ultimately vindicated only by the success of Churchill's writings, which kept him solvent.Churchill's mammoth history of the First World War deals with his reorganization of the Royal Navy in the years leading up to the war, defends his Gallipoli policy, and criticizes Haig's strategy. The set comprises the first impression of The Eastern Front, and the second impression of the other volumes, save 1915, which is the second edition.Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elections.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.