Author: Winston Churchill

Extremely rare Australian first edition of Churchill’s World Crisis, both books in near-fine original dust jackets. Only the first two books – 1911 to 1914 and 1915 – were published as separate Australian issues. The balance of the six-book set were offered Thornton Butterworth U.K. issues. Therefore, these two Books represent the true Australian first edition. The dust jackets are almost identical to the British Thornton Butterworth first editions; however, they say “Australasian Publishing Co” at the base of the jacket spines. These books are very scarce and collectable especially in this condition.

The First Book,  1911-1914:
First edition, first issue, only printing. Fine in a near-fine dust jacket. Blue boards clean, bright, unfaded with bright gilt, nice square corners, and virtually no wear. Contents crisp, clean and tight with trivial spotting confined to the top edge of the text block. Some transfer browning to endpapers. Small inked bookshop stamp on lower left ffep. The pale green dust jacket is unclipped. The faces are surprisingly fresh, showing only trivial edgewear and a faint finger smudge at the bottom center of the front face. The spine is lightly browned, but retains its strong green color and is highly complete, with only a tiny 1/8 x 1/4-inch loss at the upper rear hinge.

The Second Book, 1915:
First edition, first issue, only printing. Fine in a near-fine dust jacket. Blue boards clean, bright, unsoiled, and unfaded, marred only by four small water spots on the front cover and slightly turned corners. The spine is clean with bright gilt and minor wrinkling at the spine ends. Contents crisp, clean, bright, and tight. Mild spotting is confined to the top edge of the text block. Some transfer browning on front endpapers. Small inked bookshop stamp on lower left ffep. The yellow/tan dust jacket is unclipped. Faces are bright and clean, showing only trivial wear at corners. Jacket spine is mildly browned with a little wrinkling at spine ends, but no losses. There is a 3/4-inch closed tear at the lower left hinge.

Both dust jackets are protected in removable, archival mylar covers.

Woods/ICS A31(ad)
Cohen A69.4(I&II)
Langworth p.109

Item #994