CHURCHILL, Winston. The First Collected Works. [together with:] The Collected Essays. (THE CENTENARY LIMITED EDITION - 38 VOLUMES - 1973-76)

AUTHOR: CHURCHILL, Winston 

TITLE: The First Collected Works. [together with:] The Collected Essays. Centenary Limited Edition.

PUBLISHER: London: Library of Imperial History, 1973-76.

DESCRIPTION: THE CENTENARY LIMITED EDITION. 38 vols., octavo. 9-1/2" x 6-1/2", illustrated, bound in full vellum, gilt decorated and lettered titles to spines, armorial device to front boards, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Housed in the original green leatherette slipcases stamped with the Churchill arms in gilt.

CONDITION: Typical natural variation to the tone of the vellum bindings; a couple of the slipcases a little rubbed at extremities. overall AN EXCELLENT SET.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: First complete collected edition, 1,750 sets published. The Centenary Edition is the only full collected works of Winston Churchill, reproducing his 50 books in 34 volumes. "The specifications were titanic: five million words in 19,000 pages, weighing 90 lbs, taking up 4½ ft of shelf space." (Richard M. Langworth). The Library of Imperial History went bankrupt before the projected run of 3,000 sets could be completed, so "the print run never exceeded 2,000 copies and only 1,750 sets were ever published" (Cohen). This set is accompanied by the four-volume Centenary Limited Edition of Churchill's collected essays and journalistic writings, again intended to be limited to 3,000 sets, not always present.

REFERENCE: Cohen AA1; Langworth ICS AA1; Woods p. 391.