Savrola. A Tale of Revolution in Laurania

London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1900. First British edition. Good. First British edition, handsomely bound, of Churchill's only novel, a melodramatic tale of liberal revolution in an autocratic Mediterranean state. Octavo (182 x 121 mm). Bound in mid-twentieth-century blue half morocco by Bayntun, spine lettered in gilt, blue cloth sides, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Faded contemporary ownership signature to title page; bookplate of John Thoburn Williamson (1907-1958), Canadian diamond magnate who built a significant book collection. Spine sunned with some soiling, very minor rubbing, some light foxing, repair to closed tear to half-title and title. A good copy.

Savrola was the first book Churchill undertook to write and his third publication overall. "Whether they deem it a key indication of Churchill's innermost philosophy and political morality or just a yarn, Savrola continues to exert a grip on devotees of the canon" (Langworth, p. 39). Churchill's tale was originally serialized in Macmillan's Magazine between May and December 1899. It was first published in book form in New York on February 1, 1900; the British edition appeared on February 12.

Cohen A3.2.b (second state); Woods A3(b). Richard Langworth, A Connoisseur's Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, 1998. Good.