Some Election Memories in The Strand Magazine, September 1931

London: George Newnes, Ltd., 1931. First edition. Periodical. This September, 1931 issue of The Strand Magazine (Vol. LXXXI, No. 484) contains the first appearance of Winston Churchill’s article “Some Election Memories”, published prior to its inclusion in Thoughts and Adventures. In this article Churchill begins by asserting his well-earned authority on English elections. “In fact”, he writes, “I have devoted one day in thirty of my whole adult life to these strange experiences.” What follows is at once a unique lens through which Churchill describes Britain’s evolution in the first decades of the 20th century (“When I first began this had to be done in a two-horse landau, at about seven miles an hour.”) and a personal account of his early political career and its hard-fought victories and defeats.

At the time of this article’s publication in 1931 Churchill was in the midst of political isolation, his Conservative Party out of power and himself increasingly out of favor within his own Party. This period was a time for reminiscence; in 1931 Churchill published the final volume of his history of the First World War and the year prior he published his autobiography, My Early Life. As far as he could see, his long political arc was descending. Here he concludes his musings, “This is certainly as much as should satisfy anyone, and makes me earnestly hope that I have now found a resting-place amid the glades of Epping which will last me as long as I am concerned with mundane affairs.”

Of course, it would not be long before the affairs of the world would draw Churchill out of his "resting-place" and into his far from "mundane" role as Britain’s indispensible, iconic wartime Prime Minister. Churchill’s article, prominently advertised on a red banner spanning the magazine’s front cover, fills pages 236-47 and is illustrated by photographs, drawings, and political cartoons from throughout his early political career.

This magazine is in good plus condition, particularly considering the inherent fragility of the format. The covers are bright, clean, complete, and firmly attached, with only minor wear to the extremities and a crease to the lower front corner that extends up the cover’s fore-edge. The spine is legible with some wear overall and a half inch loss of the blank paper at the spine’s foot. The contents are complete, clean, and bright with no markings or spotting. This article, in a slightly edited form, was later collected in 1932’s Thoughts and Adventure at pages 201-15.

Reference: Cohen C359, Woods C177.