Typed letter signed, to Lord Beaverbrook, angered by a scurrilous account of a private conversation.
Published by Chartwell: 20 October 1937
- Signed
- Used
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United KingdomPeter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB.
AbeBooks seller since July 26, 1999
Condition: Used
£ 4,250.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Churchill writes angrily to his old friend, the press magnate Lord Beaverbrook, after reading a private account of a meeting with one of Beaverbrook's journalists. In a wide-ranging letter, Churchill also addresses criticisms of his recently published Great Contemporaries and remarks on the fall of the US stock market. Beaverbrook was a formidable figure in British politics and a close ally of Churchill, providing him crucial press support throughout his career; Churchill appointed him Minister of Aircraft Production during the Second World War. Beaverbrook had sent Churchill an account by one of his young journalists, Frank Owen, describing an evening spent with him. Beaverbrook claimed "you will treat it with laughter, because it is good fun" (cited in Young, p. 124). Overall, the account portrayed Churchill as an eccentric, quarrelsome agitator desperate for war. Churchill replies furiously. "I return you Frank Owen's note of our very private and informal after-dinner conversation, which certainly gives a loose and sloppy impression of what I said, or did not say. I think it is a pity that he took the trouble to put it down, and it would certainly be a gross offence if it were ever published". He adds by hand, "It gives a very much better picture of F.O. than it does of me". Beaverbrook replied, "I hoped Frank Owen's report of your conversation would amuse you. I thought it was very funny myself, and I would not have sent it if I had not been under the impression that you would enjoy it" (Young, p. 127). Churchill then turns to another matter. Beaverbrook's Evening Standard had criticized Churchill's claims in his recently published Great Contemporaries that the Earl of Birkenhead's Privy Counsellorship was awarded at Churchill's urging, which was granted only on the condition Bonar Law was awarded it also. Churchill notes that he had already made the claim four years earlier, but will correct it in a future edition. "If any slight was conveyed by what I wrote on Bonar Law, it was certainly not intended, for although he did me damage on many occasions, I do not think I have ever said an unkind word about him in public, and as you know I am not revengeful". Churchill adds that "the book has been a great success", hopes Beaverbrook is enjoying Cannes, and that "The Tories received me well at Scarborough, and I do not feel my pilgrimage there was in vain". He notes "The Americans have gone quite cracky and I have locked up my shares till they come to their senses, which I expect they will do in the course of the next year" - Churchill was heavily invested in the US stock market, and the Dow Jones fell from 190 on 14 August 1937 to 125 by 18 October. "I am told that England has bought a lot of first-class stuff very cheap". As was customary in his letters to Beaverbrook, Churchill signs familiarly, "W". Provenance: the collection of Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Magazine, and presidential candidate in the 1996 and 2000 US elections. It was in the sale of Churchill's letters to Beaverbrook at Sotheby's, 5 July 1977, lot 169, and sold again at Sotheby's, 29 June 1982, lot 46. Kenneth Young, Churchill and Beaverbrook, 1966. 2 sheets of Chartwell letterhead (255 x 188 mm), typed rectos. Lightly toned. In excellent condition. …
Seller Inventory # 189302
Bibliographic details
- Title
- Typed letter signed, to Lord Beaverbrook, angered by a scurrilous account of a private conversation.
- Author
- CHURCHILL, Winston S.
- Publisher
- Chartwell: 20 October 1937
- Signed
- Signed by Author(s)
Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB.
London, United Kingdom
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Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller has grown to become one of the largest and best known rare booksellers in Europe. Member of the ABA and ILAB. Visit us in the UK at 100 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London SW3 6HS Phone +44 (0)20 7591 0220 Fax +44 (0)20 7225 7054 www.peterharrington.co.uk
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