Winged Words An early wartime speech pamphlet previously unknown to Churchill's bibliographers or the collecting community

Winston S. Churchill

Published by John Peck & Company Limited, Liverpool, 1941

This is a wartime pamphlet featuring excerpts from Prime Minister Winston Churchill s speeches, spanning the first ten months of his premiership, from May 1940 to February 1941. This is the only copy we have encountered and of which we are aware. We have confirmed with Churchill's bibliographer, Ronald I Cohen, that this pamphlet is, indeed, a new discovery, previously unknown. The pamphlet measures 5.25 inches (18.5 cm) x 4.75 inches (12.25 cm) and is eight pages in length, wire-stitched and printed in black and red on cream card stock. The front cover features a photographic portrait of Churchill framed by a double red rule above the title "Winged Words" printed above a red double horizontal rule. Seven pages within feature eleven excerpts from Churchill s speeches of May, June, July, August, September, October, and November 1940, as well as three excerpts from Churchill s speeches of February 1941. Each excerpt is dated by month and titled as follows: Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat May 1940; This was Their Finest Hour June 1940; We shall Fight on the Beaches June 1940; Alone in the Breach July 1940; The War of the Unknown Warriors July 1940; The Task Before Us August 1940; A Message of Good Cheer September 1940; Every Man to His Post September 1940; The Salvation of Europe October 1940; Empire and Liberty October 1940; We Will Never Cease to Strike November 1940; Pride of Empire February 1941; American Opinion February 1941; A Message to Roosevelt February 1941. The rear cover is printed "Presented with the Compliments of John Peck & Company Limited" (a Liverpool clothing manufacturer) above an illustrated advertisement for "Pexwear" overalls, billed as "The uniform of Britain s war workers". At the foot of the page is a five-line advertisement for Into Battle, the first volume of Churchill s war speeches published by Cassell and Company on 6 February 1941. Condition is very good plus. The cardstock wraps remain complete with no loss, tears, or spotting. Both binding staples are firmly intact, though rusted with some adjacent staining of the pamphlet. Soiling is light. The contents are clean with no previous ownership marks. During his long public life, Winston Churchill played many roles worthy of note - Member of Parliament for more than half a century, soldier and war correspondent, author of scores of books, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, Nobel Prize winner, painter. But Churchill's preeminence as a historical figure owes most to his indispensable leadership during the Second World War, when his soaring and defiant oratory sustained his countrymen and inspired the free world. Of Churchill, Edward R. Murrow said: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." When Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, it was partly "…for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values." Between 1941 and 1946, Churchill's war speeches were published in seven individual volumes. Publication of this wartime pamphlet precedes all but the first of these war speeches volumes. Bibliographic reference: unknown to either Cohen or Woods. Seller Inventory # 004447

Bibliographic Details

Title: Winged Words An early wartime speech ...
Publisher: John Peck & Company Limited, Liverpool
Publication Date: 1941
Binding: Pamphlet
Edition: First edition.