The First Collected Works [together with: The Collected Essays]. Centenary Limited Edition.

First complete collected edition, number 675 of 1,750 sets. The lavishly produced Centenary Edition is the only full collected works of Winston Churchill, reproducing his 50 books in 34 volumes, with four further volumes of essays. "The specifications were titanic: five million words in 19,000 pages, weighing 90 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" (Langworth, p. 362). 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). The set was subscribed to by Peter Free, with his name on the limitation bookplates mounted to the front pastedown of the first volume and loosely inserted in several of the others. The publisher's prospectus is also included. Cohen AA1; Woods p. 391. Richard M. Langworth, A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, 1998. Together 38 vols, octavo. Illustrations throughout, as plates and to the text. Original full vellum with 22-carat gold blocking, including titles to spines, armorial device to front covers and ruling to spines and front covers, gilt edges, marbled endpapers, printed on Archive Long-Life Text Paper. Housed in original green imitation leather slipcases stamped with the Churchill arms in gilt. Typical natural variation to the tone of the vellum bindings, a few slipcases with light skinning and peeling as often encountered, in both cases much better than usual. An excellent set.…