very scarce

Captain X [Captain Andrew Dewar Gibb] ~ With Winston Churchill At The Front

Gowans & Gray, Ltd., London : 1924

The First UK Printing published by Gowans & Gray, Ltd., London in 1924. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition. 12mo., publisher's original printed card wraps, glued at the backstrip as issued, lettered in black to upper cover and spine, priced '1/- net' in both places ; the upper cover showing a woodcut of Winston Churchill in circa 1916, wearing a trench coat and his French Poilu's helmet, above musical notation which shows the notes to 'Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre' ('Marlborough is going off to war', a French folk song); advertisement for 'The Nickums' to lower cover; with black and white frontis photograph of Churchill in Flanders in 1916, kitted out in the same coat and helmet; The book is remarkably well preserved considering its age and ephemeral nature; the spine remaining present and attached (not often found as such), though beginning to split just at the head and the foot; the covers a little marked and scuffed at the edges; some corner creasing; light spotting to the lower cover, as well as inside covers, and the outer edges. Spotting sporadically throughout due to the paper stock used, as universally encountered ; Just beginning to pull away at the gutters, but holding firm; with no front end-paper, opening to the half title as issued. The book is protected in both a removable Mylar cover, and a Mylar sleeve. First UK edition of this short work on Churchill's army career during the First World War. The author, writing under the pseudonym of 'Captain X' was actually Captain Andrew Dewar Gibb (1888–1974), a Scottish barrister, professor and politician who later led the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1936 to 1940. Gibb served in France with the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers, achieving the rank of major, and fighting at both the Battle of Loos and on the Ypres Salient, where he was adjutant to Winston Churchill during the short time that Churchill was the battalion's commanding officer. 'With Winston Churchill at the Front' was his first published work, though he went on to write several others, mostly on the subjects of History, Scotland, and Law in the United Kingdom. The frontispiece used later became the basis for the image which featured in the 1932 publication of Churchill's 'Amid These Storms'. Packed with amusing anecdotes and insights, Gibb portrays the famously cantankerous politician as compassionate, fearless, and ultimately adored by the men who served under him. It offers a rare insight into a short, but important period in Churchill's life. Unsurprisingly, it is scarce indeed, in any condition, but even more so thus, with the wraps so well preserved. Collectible.

BINDING: Wraps
CONDITION: Very Good ++