Thoughts and Adventures

London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1932. First edition, second printing. Hardcover. This a first edition, second printing in the first printing dust jacket – bibliographically intriguing thus. Thoughts and Adventures is Churchill's collection of 23 engaging essays on an incredibly wide variety of subjects. It has been called "The broadest range of Churchill's thought between two hard covers" and reflects the two qualities so characterize Churchill's life - a remarkable breadth of both mind and life experience.

The first impression of November 1932 was quite swiftly followed by a second impression; the one thousand second printing copies were actually printed prior to the publication date of 10 November. The contents vary from the first printing only in the notation of the second impression on the copyright page. Churchill’s bibliographer Ronald Cohen states: "I expect that copies of the second printing would have been wrapped in first edition dust jackets until these ran out or until such time as the newly designed jackets including reviews became available." This copy - which must be an earlier second printing - confirms Cohen's expectation.

Condition is very good minus in a very good dust jacket. The green cloth binding is clean, tight, and, consonant with a jacketed copy, entirely unfaded with deep green hue and vivid gilt on the front cover and spine. There is a slight forward lean, a faint vertical spine crease, shelf wear to the bottom edge, including minor fraying to the lower corners and a dent and minor split at the bottom edge of the front cover. The contents are mildly age-toned with spotting primarily confined to the prelims. The first free endpaper is missing, but clearly was excised long ago; differential toning to the half title and final free endpaper corresponding to the dust jacket flaps confirm that this copy has spent life jacketed. There are three previous ownership marks on the upper half title – an inked and crossed out name, a different inked name, and a small sticker with a third name, address, and telephone number. The lower final free endpaper verso is ink-stamped with the date “11.32”. On the facing lower rear pastedown is the printed sticker of “The Times Book Club”. The first printing dust jacket is substantially complete and unclipped, with the original price intact on the spine, lower front face, and lower front flap, and with minor loss confined to the spine ends and flap fold corners. The spine shows mild toning and scuffing and there is light wear to extremities. The dust jacket is protected beneath a clear, removable, archival cover.

An original blurb for Thoughts and Adventures encapsulates – as far as is possible – the wide range of the chapters within: “These true stories concern such things as the tides that make a politician change his mind; the domination of chance in human lives; the cartoonists who mocked Churchill; the chances and events that occurred while he was in the trenches; phases of the war seen from intimate participation with the high commands; flying experiences in 1912; the Irish; the future; and contemporary change." In a 31 May 1932 letter to his publisher about the book, Churchill characterized it thus: "...although there is no one single theme, it has some of the best things in it I have ever written."

Reference: Cohen A95.1.c (volume) A95.1.a (jacket), Woods/ICS A39(aa.2), Langworth p.156.