This Item Has Been Sold
LONDON TO LADYSMITH (VIA PRETORIA)
-First Canadian Hardcover Edition-
1900
First Canadian Edition
Copp, Clark, & Co. [Toronto]
Biblio: (Cohen A4.3.a) (Woods A4bb)
8vo (510 pages, 8 maps and plans, no rear catalogue)
Hardcover [Dark tan pictorial cloth]
Item Number: 14236
Collector's Guide
London to Ladysmith was the first of two Boer War volumes derived from Winston Churchill’s newspaper dispatches as a war correspondent in South Africa. It features a thrilling account of his escape from the Boers, an escape that would help launch young Churchill’s political career. The First English edition was published elaborately in fawn-colored cloth stamped with a striking cover illustration of the infamous armored train that Churchill was defending when he was captured. The American edition is an unadorned, though still handsome, red cloth binding with gilt lettering.
Description
This is a strikingly handsome copy of the rare first Canadian issue, which, like the Canadian IAN HAMILTON, was produced from American First edition plates and bound in a similar but not identical style to the English first edition. The coarser, more ochre-color, cloth retains the armoured train cover motif but with a red fleur-de-lis on the spine instead of crossed flags. The cloth has perhaps darkened a trifle with age, particularly along the spine, but this copy is otherwise virtually mint, inside and out. Remarkable for an edition that is far scarcer than either the English or American firsts.