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Old Titles Revisited: “A Connoisseur’s Guide”
- By DAVE TURRELL
- | December 24, 2021
- Category: Books
Richard M. Langworth, A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill. Published in association with the Churchill Centre. London: Brassey’s, 1998, revised edition 2001, 320 pages, Amazon $69.47.
Filling a need
There are two benefits to reviewing a book 23 years after publication. First, it caters to the incorrigible idleness of the reviewer (which we hastily pass over). Second, it considers the impact of the publication and whether it has utility. It does, but back in 1998 the Connoisseur’s Guide was urgently needed.
As the collecting of Churchill’s books burgeoned in 1980s and 1990s, the paucity of sources to help collectors was exposed. Given hundreds of editions which by then existed, Frederick Woods’s 1963 Bibliography was badly outdated and incomplete, seminal though it had been.
There were few supplements to Woods. Most of them were bookseller catalogs, by Bernard Farmer, Michael Wybrow, Mark Weber and Langworth himself. The mouthwatering Mortlake catalog was wonderfully detailed, if you could find a copy. But none effectively filled the ever growing gap. They were, at best, scattered. Then along came the Connoisseur’s Guide.
The author was well qualified. As founder of the International Churchill Society and editor of its journal, he was a prominent Churchill advocate. He had also established himself as a leading specialist Churchill bookseller, in touch with hundreds of customers, thousands of volumes. The scarce and the commonplace passed through his hands. Langworth claims that he wrote the Guide in self-defense, against the frequent question: “What am I holding in my hand?” This is why the book was successful and warmly welcomed. It offered exactly what the readers wanted to know, by one who knew of whereof he spoke.
The Connoisseur’s Guide defined
Before going into detail, I must first criticize a statement in the introduction: “The first thing to say about this book is that it is not a bibliography. That is also the second and third thing.” My response to this always is, “Yes it is, of course it is.”
It should be understood, of course, that the Guide in no way competes with Ronald Cohen’s majestic three-volume Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill. That great work is exhaustive and definitive and succeeds admirably. Langworth is a firm supporter of Cohen, who allowed his bibliographic numbers to be cited in the Connoisseur’s Guide before his own work was published (and at some cost, for Cohen had to juggle numbers when his research produced unanticipated variants). However, within the parameters which Langworth set himself—book length works only—the Connoisseur’s Guide is a bibliography. It is also a book that can and should be read, as well as consulted.
The scope involves that part of Churchill’s gargantuan output in the form most collectors focus on: book-length writings. This canon consists of, in round numbers, some fifty volumes which appeared in Churchill’s lifetime. There is little argument about what constitutes these “A” items, and the Connoisseur’s Guide conforms to the conventional list. The only inclusion I would question is that of the Jack Fishman-edited volume If I Lived My Life Again. While admittedly Churchill’s writings, it’s really a quotations book and as such should be regarded differently. The inclusion of The Chartwell Bulletins January-June 1935 is also mildly dubious though brilliantly edited and footnoted by Sir Martin Gilbert. (Ronald Cohen would disagree, since he also includes them, as A283 and A291 respectively.)
Editions and presentations
Brassey’s publishers produced a beautiful volume. Printed on coated paper it has a satisfying heft in the hand. The dust jacket is illustrated with enviable copes of Churchill’s books, photographed by Mark Weber. A second, revised edition appeared in 2000 to correct minor errors which had cropped up in the first. In appearance the two editions are essentially identical.
The first edition also appeared in a limited “presentation” edition of 50 copies. It is luxuriously bound in full maroon goatskin, all edges gilt, with most copies being inscribed and signed by the author.
Partly due to its usefulness to all Churchill book collectors, and partly due to a fire which consumed or damaged many copies, the Connoisseur’s Guide has become increasingly scarce on the second hand market. Copies of the presentation edition have almost disappeared. At the time of writing the only copy available online was listed at well over $2,000.
Content and organization
Introducing each Churchill title is a short, erudite essay on how it came to be written. Next comes a chronological listing of editions and issues, including foreign editions. Extracts from contemporary reviews are included, followed by notes on appearance, dust jackets, variants and values. In the best showbiz tradition the audience is left wishing for more. The reviews could stand expansion, and foreign editions could have been treated in more detail. However, the author could still claim “mission accomplished.” All questions a reasonable collector would ask will find their answer here.
Including value estimates apparently caused angst, but given the audience, it was the right decision. Collectors are always interested in the value of their collections. By the same token nobody reading the Connoisseur’s Guide today would believe these are current values. But that is also the delight: looking back a different, nostalgic time, when the world was united in its love and respect for Winston Churchill. It was also a time when treasures could be had for trifles.
Then there are the illustrations, and here the Connoisseur’s Guide made a huge leap over its predecessors. We have to realize that the question “what am I holding in my hand?” is best answered not by words, not by precise pagination and collating details, but by pictures. The Guide does not illustrate everything, and it would be unfair to expect that of a printed book. If ever a fully illustrated bibliography appears, it will appear on the web, not on paper. But the Guide was head and shoulders ahead of anything else. I have not counted the number of illustrations, but I estimate well over 100. Compare this to Woods’s scant four.
23 years on
The Connoisseur’s Guide may not be a definitive bibliography, but a bibliography for collectors it certainly is. It may be a connoisseur’s guide, but it is not an elitist’s guide. It describes some editions that may rarely, if ever, come on the market again—and aspiration supplies much of the joy of collecting. Also, it lists books for the normal collector (if that is not an oxymoron), and affordable editions for everyday readers. In sum, back in 1998, Richard Langworth did bibliophiles a sterling service. Churchill’s book length works are critical to an understanding of his life. I urge any who have that interest to acquire a copy of the Guide, and to wallow luxuriously in it.
Full disclosure. Over the course of past twenty-five years Mr. Langworth has been sometimes my mentor, colleague, editor, and friend. Since he edits many of the posts on this website, I now face the formidable task of bullying some of what I’ve written in praise past his bulwarks. If you have read the above, then the battle was won, or at least partly won.
The author
Mr. Turrell is happily retired from a lifetime career in Information Technology. He is a longtime Churchill bibliophile and collector. His days are spent in arranging his books on his own plan and, even on the rare occasions where he cannot be friends with them, he is at least proud to make their acquaintance.