The River War, An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. This is the first edition, first printing, of Churchill's second published work, the lengthiest from his time as an itinerant cavalry officer and war correspondent during the waning days of Queen Victoria’s reign.

This first edition is not only compellingly written, but also physically beautiful. The two large, lavish volumes are decorated with gilt representations of the Mahdi's tomb on the spines and a gunboat on the front covers. Each volume is printed on heavy paper with a profusion of illustrations, maps, and plans. They are also scarce; there were 2,000 copies of this first edition, first printing. Moreover, this is one of the few Churchill books for which there was no concurrent U.S. first edition.

This first edition, first printing is an unrestored, intact set in the striking, original bindings. Condition is very good. The bindings do show overall scuffing and wear to extremities, including wrinkled spine ends and corner bumps, as well as slight dimpling to the upper spines. Nonetheless, there is no discernible color shift between the binding spines and covers, rendering shelf presentation quite respectable. Moreover, the bindings remain intact, the contents still firmly attached.

The contents are quite good for the edition, bright and complete. The original black endpapers are present, as are all of the extensive maps and plans, as well as the frontispiece portraits and tissue guards. The Volume II black endpapers show partial cosmetic gutter splits, partially exposing the intact mull beneath but not affecting binding integrity. Significantly, the set shows almost no spotting. This appears to be a lifelong mated set, suggested by matching condition and appearance, as well as matching ownership marks. The armorial bookplate of “ROBERT CRICHTON-STUART” is affixed to each front pastedown. We also find the tiny bookseller sticker of the same Welsh bookseller affixed to each lower right front pastedown. Inked in the blank margin at the head of the Volume I title page is a previous owner name, date of “Christmas 1899” and what appears to be a personal library designation. There are two contemporary newspaper clippings tipped onto the Volume II half title and the facing blank verso. One is a captioned image of “OSMAN DIGNA, THE GREAT DERVISH LEADER” from the 27 January 1900 issue of The Graphic. The other is a 5 September 1900 Morning Post article and image titled “THE CAPTURE OF OSMAN DIGNA.”

Volume I of first edition, first printing sets often contains a publisher's catalogue bound in at the rear. Churchill’s bibliographer, Ron Cohen, speculates that copies lacking the catalogue were likely "destined for sale in either the American or other overseas markets." This set lacks the rear catalogue. We have previously encountered first printing sets, like this one, without the rear catalogue, but nonetheless clear indication of having been sold in Britain.

The Mahdi, Mohammed Ahmed, was a messianic Islamic leader in central and northern Sudan in the final decades of the 19th century. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of the capitol, Khartoum. Though the Mahdi died that same year, his theocracy continued until 1898, when General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan. With Kitchener – to his vexation – was a very young Winston Churchill, who participated in “the last great British cavalry charge” during the battle of Omdurman in September 1898, where the Mahdist forces were decisively defeated. Writing about the British campaign in the Sudan, Churchill - a young officer in a colonial British army - is unusually sympathetic to the Mahdist forces and critical of Imperial cynicism and cruelty. This work offers us the candid perspective of the future 20th century icon from the distinctly 19th century battlefields where Churchill learned to write and earned his early fame. The text is arresting, insightful, powerfully descriptive, and of enduring relevance.

Reference: Cohen A2.1.b, Woods/ICS A2(a.1), Langworth p.29