The World Crisis, full set of six British first edition, first printings, a beautiful set with noteworthy provenance by Winston S. Churchill - 1923

London: Thornton Butterworth Limited, 1923. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is a spectacular full British first edition, first printing six-volume set with noteworthy provenance. Published between 1923 and 1931, The World Crisis is Winston Churchill's epic history of the First World War, in which he played such a critical, controversial, and varied role. Frederick Woods wrote: "The volumes contain some of Churchill's finest writing, weaving the many threads together with majestic ease, describing the massive battles in terms which fitly combine relish of the literary challenge with an awareness of the sombre tragedy of the events." Churchill was in a special position to write this history, having served both in the Cabinet and on the Front. First Lord of the Admiralty from 1911 until 1915, after the failure in the Dardanelles and the slaughter at Gallipoli, Churchill was scapegoated and forced to resign. He spent his political exile as a lieutenant colonel leading a battalion in the trenches. Before war's end, Churchill was exonerated and rejoined the Government, but the stigma would linger. Churchill may have meant for his history of the First World War to clear his name, but his six volume masterwork far exceeds this purpose. Both condition and provenance of this set are of note. This set is inscribed on the volume I half title: To | Col. Carey Evans | from | Her Excellency | June 26. 1923.” Sir Thomas John Carey Evans, MC, FRCS, IMS (1884-1947) was a career medical officer who served with distinction during the First World War with the Indian Army at Gallipoli, in Egypt, and in Mesopotamia, being twice mentioned in the despatches, awarded the Military Cross, and created a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. It was also during the First World War in 1917 that Evans married Olwen Elizabeth, elder daughter of David Lloyd-George. When this first volume of The World Crisis was inscribed to Carey Evans in 1923, he was serving in India as personal physician to the Viceroy. The inscription to Carey Evans is that of Alice Edith Isaacs nee Cohen, Marchioness of Reading, GBE, CI (1866-1930). Lady Reading owed her titular “Excellency” to her husband, Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading, GCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, PC, KC (1860-1935). Lord Reading was Viceroy of India from 1921-1925. Carey Evans was knighted in 1924. A post-military medical career in London saw him become superintendent of the Hammersmith Hospital when the British Postgraduate Medical School was established there. He would end his career organizing the hospital under Second World War wartime and air-raid conditions. Many consider the British edition of The World Crisis aesthetically superior to the U.S., with its larger volumes and shoulder notes summarizing the subject of each page. Unfortunately, the smooth navy cloth of the British first editions proved quite susceptible to wear, the contents prone to spotting and toning, and the final volume, The Eastern Front, was produced in smaller numbers, making it challenging to fill complete sets. This full first printing set is exceptional, each volume in near fine or better condition, most of them superior even to jacketed copies. All six volumes feel unread, with crisp, bright contents. We find no previous ownership marks other than the Volume I inscription. Spotting, endemic to the edition, appears confined to the page edges and prelims of the first two volumes. The blue cloth bindings remain unusually bright and fresh with vivid spine gilt and superlative shelf presentation. Trivial wear is evident only in minor wrinkling to spine ends and a few small corner bumps. The binding of The Aftermath proved prone to unsightly blistering of the cloth; here the trivial blistering is confined to a few spots at the fore edges. The Eastern Front is a particularly fine example, with a bright binding and pristine contents that show absolutely no spotting. Bibliographic reference: A69.2(I).b, A69.2(II).a, A69.2(III-1&2).a, A69.2(IV).b, A69.2(V).a; Woods/ICS A31(ab); Langworth p.105