Ian Hamilton's March by Winston S. Churchill - 1900

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900. First edition, second printing. Hardcover. This is the British first edition, second and final printing, of Churchill's fifth published book. Ian Hamilton's March was the second of Churchill's two books based on his newspaper despatches sent from the front in South Africa during the Boer War. The first edition, second printing was produced a month after the first printing and is nearly identical, the main differences being the addition of the words "Second Edition" to the title page and notation of the second printing on the copyright page, a boxed list of the authors preceding books on the half-title verso, and four small emendations to the text.

This is an extremely nice, very good plus copy. How we wish it were a first printing! The good news is that it costs much less and looks identical on the shelf. The red cloth binding is far better than usually seen - clean and tight with sharp corners, no appreciable soiling, and bright gilt. Spine presentation is excellent. Wear is trivial, mostly confined to some wrinkling at the spine ends, and the spine retains almost the same color as the bright and clean covers, with only minor sunning. The contents are bright with a crisp, unread feel. All maps and plans are present and intact, as are the original black endpapers and the tissue guard at the frontispiece. We find no previous ownership marks. Spotting is primarily confined to the prelims through the dedication page, and the page edges.

In October 1899, the second Boer War erupted between the descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa and the British. Churchill, an adventure-seeking young cavalry officer and war correspondent, swiftly found himself in South Africa with the 21st Lancers and an assignment as press correspondent to the Morning Post. Not long thereafter, on 15 November 1899, Churchill was captured during a Boer ambush of an armored train. His daring escape less than a month later rendered him a celebrity and helped launch his political career.

Churchill's first book of Boer War despatches, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, was published in England in mid-May 1900 and sold well. Ian Hamilton's March completes Churchill's coverage of the Boer War, publishing 17 letters to the Morning Post, spanning 31 March through 14 June 1900. The narrative in Ian Hamilton's March includes the liberation of the Pretoria prison camp where Churchill had been held. Though a companion and sequel to London to Ladysmith, it is notably different in appearance, content, and scarcity. The first printing saw only 5,000 copies - half as many copies as London to Ladysmith. Where Ladysmith bore a lavishly illustrated binding, Ian Hamilton's March was bound in red cloth matching the style of Churchill's first published book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force - fitting, as these were the first and last Churchill first editions published by Longmans, Green, and Co.

While London to Ladysmith via Pretoria had swiftly published Churchill's dispatches in the wake of his capture and escape, for Ian Hamilton's March "the texts of the originally published letters were more extensively revised and four letters were included which had never appeared in periodical form" (Cohen, A8.1.a, Vol. I, p.105). Churchill effected these revisions while on board the passenger and cargo steamer Dunottar Castle, which was requisitioned as a troop ship, en route home to England. Arriving home from South Africa in July 1900, Churchill spent the summer campaigning hard in Oldham, where he won his first seat in Parliament on 1 October 1900 in the so-called "khaki election". The British first edition of Ian Hamilton's March was published just a few weeks later, on 12 October, with this second and final printing following in November.

Reference: Cohen A8.1.c, Woods/ICS A5(b), Langworth p.59.