Sail on, O Ship of State ! - Rare Broadside Signed By Roosevelt and Churchill + Signed Photograph of Churchill + Four Photographs of the Atlantic Meeting by Churchill, Winston and Roosevelt, Franklin - 1941

London: Raphael Tuck and Son, 1941 A stunning selection of Churchill and Roosevelt memorabilia from the estate of Arthur Prettyman, valet to President Roosevelt, who accompanied him to Newfoundland to meet with Winston Churchill. The Atlantic Meeting: The rendezvous between the two great leaders of the free world was conducted in extreme secrecy. U-Boats patrolled the Atlantic picking off merchant and naval ships, and the trip was a dangerous one for Churchill, even in a battleship. The popular author, H.V. Morton, recorded the trip to Newfoundland in his book 'Atlantic Meeting.' Even he wasn't informed of the destination of the trip by the Ministry of Information. The minister, Brendan Bracken, told Morton, 'I want you to leave England for three weeks, but I regret to say I can't tell you where you are going or what you will see when you get there. I can only say that if you go you will see history in the making.' His interest piqued, Morton agreed. On August 9th, having rendezvoused with the Augusta, Churchill and a party from the Prince of Wales went aboard the US ship. Next day, Roosevelt visited the Prince of Wales for the Sunday service and for luncheon. The result of the meeting, aside from the strengthening of ties between the US and Britain, was the Atlantic Charter, the pivotal policy statement issued on 14 August 1941, that defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. The leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States drafted the work and all the Allies later confirmed it. The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people, self-determination; restoration of self-government to those deprived of it; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom of the seas; and abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations. In the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, the Allies pledged adherence to this charter's principles. 'This was a meeting,' Churchill said, 'which marks forever in the pages of history the taking up by the English-speaking nations amid all this peril, tumult and confusion, of the guidance of the fortunes of the broad, toiling masses in all the continents, and our loyal effort, without any clog of selfish interest, to lead them forward out of miseries into which they have been plunged back to the broad high-road of freedom and justice. This is the highest honour and the most glorious opportunity which could ever have come to any branch of the human race.' 'It would indeed by strange if this Council of Placentia was not fated to be written in the pages of history, and if the date of August the ninth was not one which children still unborn may be required to know together with the dates of Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, and other such landmarks along the flinty road of Freedom.' (Morton - Atlantic Meeting, p. 90) The Broadside: Foremost among the items is the rare Longfellow verse 'Sail On, O Ship of State' signed by both Roosevelt and Churchill. A very few of these broadsides were distributed as a memento at the two leaders' first meeting in 1941. An example of the broadside is reproduced in colour as the frontispiece in Morton's book, Atlantic Meeting, stating they were signed in Placentia Bay, where the historic conference took place. The choice of words was inspired by the letter Churchill had received from Roosevelt earlier that year. President Roosevelt wrote to Churchill in January 1941, quoting from the Longfellow poem "The Building of the Ship." It was then hand-delivered to the British Prime Minister by Wendell Wilkie, Roosevelt's Republican opponent in the 1940 Presidential election. Churchill found the letter "an inspiration" and told Roosevelt that he would have it framed. The letter hung for a long time at Chartwell, Churchill's home, where it faded from the original green of White House stationery to brown. Churchill decided to have printed a souvenir which would draw on Roosevelt's inspirational words, for their meeting in August 1941. It measures approx 8.5 by 7 inches. Just a handful were printed. The broadside was signed by both leaders and a few were handed to the closest aides and senior political figures at the meeting. Very few have ever reached the market. Though the signatures on this example are a trifle faded to sepia, otherwise the broadside is in excellent condition with the original ribbon and label to the verso. Extant examples of the broadside: 1). The example presented to Australian Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, hangs in the Australian Museum of Democracy. 2). Autograph dealer, the Raab Collection offered an example in an elaborate gilt frame recently, but with no provenance as to who it was presented to, or how it was acquired (http://www.raabcollection.com/winston-churchill-autograph/winston-churchill-signed-sold-symbol-atlantic-alliance-signed-both) 3). Christies, New York sold another copy without specific provenance for $41,125 in March 2002 (http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/roosevelt-franklin-d-and-winston-s-churchill-3886885-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=3886885&sid=7d23f63c-23af-4eaf-8783-fb550e41b7fe) - The example from the estate of General H. H. 'Hap' Arnold, which sold for a record $96,000 ion 2008 (see https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16097/lot/2361/) now hangs in a museum. - A copy is on display in the Museum of World War II in Boston, originally given to Harry Hopkins (http://museumofworldwarii.org/churchill.html) - Roosevelt gave one to his son John, subsequently sold at Christies in 2001 for $64,625 (see http://www.christies.com//lotfinder/lot/churchill-winston-s-and-franklin-d-roosevelt-1990394-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=1990394&sid=e55be6ff-c2ea-40d6-92cc-5d9d8b3bd3a9) The Photographs on the Augusta: In addition to the broadside are four original photographs of the meeting aboard the USS Augusta. Having researched these original images with the Imperial War Museum, these images are close to those taken by the official photographer, but from slightly different angles, and are previously unrecorded. The musuem suggested they may have been taken by Mr Prettyman himself, making them a unique and new record of the meeting. Signed Photograph of Winston Churchill: Also included in this collection is a fine photograph of Churchill in typically resolute pose. The image is by Walter Stoneman (1876-1958) who regularly photographed Winston Churchill for the eminent portrait firm J. Russell & Sons. Churchill frequently used Stoneman's bust-length portraits as his official photographs. It is signed in the mount, with a short note mounted next to the photo on the Prime Minister's stationery reading 'Arthur Prettyman with Mr Churchill's compliments Washington 1943'. This note appears to be in a secretarial hand but the signature under the photograph is quite genuine. Altogether a superlative collection of Churchilliana. The Provenance: In recent years the Prettyman family have sold off various items which passed from President Roosevelt to his valet, Arthur Prettyman, e.g. the cape Roosevelt wore at Yalta (http://www.rrauction.com/Franklin-D-Roosevelt-Cape.html), or this Martini tray (http://historical.ha.com/itm/political/franklin-d-roosevelt-wooden-martini-tray-gift-to-valet-arthur-prettyman-1939-1945-to-arthur-s-prettyman/a/6010-39294.s). This collection came from a small auction in Virginia where the items had been entered by the Prettyman family. . First Edition. Card. Very Good.