London: Library of Imperial History in association with the Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., 1973-1976. First edition. Thirty-eight volumes, octavo. Each volume 9¾ in. tall and cumulatively occuping approximately 60 in. of shelf space. A Near Fine set. Original full vellum stamped in gilt. Typical natural variation to the tone of the vellum bindings but cleaner than often. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Both sets with the publisher's limitation bookplates personalized for Craig Herron. Housed in the original green imitation leather slipcases stamped with the Churchill arms in gilt. A few slipcases with some scuffing and peeling as often encountered. An excellent set. With the original publisher's prospectus for the Collected Essays and the Terms of Sale for the Collected Works, plus a sheaf of correspondence between the publisher and Craig Herron, the original subscriber, organizing the purchase of both sets. The correspondence reveals that Herron paid $2,500 for the Collected Works (via an American Express promotion) and £150 for the Collected Essays.

A sumptuous publication of Winston Churchill’s complete works. One of the most significant figures of the twentieth century, Churchill’s brilliant political and military mind is on full display in this set. The Centenary Edition—the only full collection of all his works—reproduces his 50 books in 34 volumes, with four volumes of essays. "The specifications were titanic: five million words in 19,000 pages, weighing 19 lbs, taking up 4.5 ft of shelf space. To achieve publication, 11 publishing houses in Great Britain, the United States and Canada released their individual copyrights in exchange for the promise that no other complete edition of Churchill works would be published until the expiration of international copyright in 2019" (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 includes the four-volume Centenary Limited Edition of Churchill’s collected essays and journalistic writings, again intended to be limited to 3,000 sets, and not always present. None of the 360 essays compiled in the set had yet appeared in book form. In the words of the the publisher, the set offers "an unrivalled opportunity to retrace, step by step, half a century of history with Winston Churchill, to recognise his unrelenting faith in himself and his country and to comprehend the magnitude of his achievement. To know these essays is to know the man."

Cohen AA1; Woods p. 391. Near Fine (Item #8242)