THE RIVER WAR: A Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan
-First Edition Set-
1899
First English Edition Set (First Printing) [1 of 2,003 produced]
Longmans, Green, & Co. Ltd. [London]
Biblio: (Cohen A2.1.a) (Woods A2a)
8vo (488 pages and 516 pages, profusely illustrated with drawings, 11 folding color maps, other maps & plans.)
Hardcover [Dark blue-black cloth]
Item Number: 210655
$5,000.00
Collector's Guide
The River War was Winston Churchill’s second book, a brilliant history of British involvement in the Sudan and an account of the fierce campaign for its reconquest that Churchill himself participated in and, in many significant ways, disapproved of. Originally published in two large, lavish and, today, extremely rare volumes, THE RIVER WAR was abridged by Churchill himself for a 1902 one-volume edition. All subsequent editions have been versions of Churchill’s abridgement.
Description
This would be a very good First English edition set, in terms of its still lustrous blue-black cloth, bright gilt and unfaded spines that are well-rounded and unfrayed. The binding is crisp and tight and the corners are sharp. Unfortunately, the book has clearly survived a fire and is faintly singed along some page-edges, as well as smelling decidedly smoky. The front black free endpaper of Volume I has separated and all the other black endpapers are loose, with hinge breaks. There is a former-ownder’s vintage bookplate on each pastedown. Else truly fine. A survivor, and price accordingly, preserved in a handsome custom slipcase.