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Framed Early AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED to JOHN MORLEY
“Dinner tonight has fallen through because I cannot collect the friends I want...”
1902
4 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches (Folded single leaf; one-page) Framed: 15 x 18 inches overall.
Item Number: 204640
Description
A marvelously intimate, personal note from young Winston Churchill to his then-new mentor in the House of Commons, JOHN MORLEY (1838-1923), philosopher and “free-thinker,” disciple and biographer of Gladstone, who exerted a special influence on young Winston, in particular educating him about the conditions of the poor in England; leading ultimately to Churchill’s crossing the aisle to join Morley’s Liberal party on May 31, 1904.
On notepaper from Churchill’s new bachelor flat at 105 Mount Street (4 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches),dated 27, July [19]02, all in Churchill’s hand:
My dear Mr. Morley,
Dinner tonight has fallen through because I cannot collect the friends I want; but Arthur Balfour can come on Monday next, June 2, and I am arranging a small party in the House for that date. Will you come then? and whether or no, forgive me for bothering you so often. One word – literally – in reply!
Yours most sincerely, Winston S. Churchill.
Morley’s one-line reply to this invitation appears in Companion Volume II, Part 1 of the official biography: “I will dine with you on Monday next, June 2, with all the pleasure in life.”
Matted and framed with the famous formal portrait photograph taken of young Churchill in his study taken during this period.