Q: Is it real?

I have a first American edition of Churchill’s Boer war book, London to Ladysmith via Pretoria (New York: Longmans Green, 1900, later part of the combined volume The Boer War). On the inside cover is a label with a signature of Winston Churchill.Do you think that it is an original or a signatures label printed in quantities?

The first line reads, “duly Inscribed” and the signature looks like his (suitably aged ink), but I have never encountered “duly Inscribed” on another book signed by Churchill. However, since this is a card obviously pasted in, I suppose it’s possible. —L.C., Quebec, Canada

A: Likely, yes

The pen used had a broader nib than the ones Churchill favored. Of course it might have belonged to someone who handed it to him to inscribe. I believe it’s Churchill’s handwriting, but from a much later date. In 1900 his signature was less expansive than it became in later years, and this looks more like post-1930.

What catches the eye is the “duly Inscribed,” a notation I’ve never before encountered among signatures in his books. However, it seems innocent enough. Told it was for a book, he might have felt it appropriate to “duly inscribe” the label for the owner.

From your photo it looks suitably aged and seems to have been there a long time. Inscribed books or photographs with the signatures pasted in or added to the matte are sometimes encountered. They are not, of course, as valuable as books the author personally inscribed, particularly when he named the recipient.

I doubt this is something that was printed in quantities, like the well-known printed holograph thank-you notes. I cannot tell for certain from a photo that it’s written in ink, although it seems to be.

Q: Printed signatures

I recently acquired a copy of Painting as a Pastime, reprinted 1965.  Across  from the title page is the memorable photo of Mr. Churchill at an easel.   Under this photo is his signature.  The signature seems authentic, but I am not an expert and am unsure.  For this edition, is there a  signature printed under the photo?  —W.R., Seattle

A: A typical example

Yes; it’s a printed signature, present in every copy of the book. When Churchill actually signed copies, it would usually be on the first free endpaper, or occasionally on the title page.

Painting as a Pastime, Churchill’s charming essay on his chief hobby. (He had other hobbies—he was also big on books and bricks.) The essay was first published in The Strand magazine in 1921. Reprinted in Thoughts and Adventures, it was first published as a volume in its own right in 1948. It has nothing whatever to do with war or politics, and everything to do with having fun. Numerous reprints make it readily available.

For lovers of his paintings, the complete catalogue is  Sir Winston Churchill’s Life through His Paintings and Churchill: The Artist and His Paintings (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2003). This documents all 550+ paintings, traces their whereabouts, and pictures most of them in full color. I also recommend Paul Rafferty’s masterful Churchill Painting on the French Riviera (London: Unicorn Publishing, 2020). See link below.

Related articles

“Don’t Fall for Them! Facsimile Churchill Holograph Signatures,” 2023.

“A ‘Paintacious’ Masterpiece: Paul Rafferty on Churchill’s Riviera Art,” 2021.

“Painting à Deux: Churchill’s and Alexander’s Portraits of Lake Como,” by Paul Rafferty, 2020.

“Provide for Your Library,” 2010.

Back when I was senior editor at Automobile Quarterly, I rescued a wonderful big 3×2-foot photo of the great Grand Prix champion René Dreyfus (the world’s last great Frenchman), and his Type 35 Bugatti, from the dustbin and brought it over to Le Chanteclair, his wonderful French restaurant on 49th Street, Manhattan, for him to inscribe to me. Then I framed and hung it. Over the years the signature faded to nothingness, and recently I “restored” it by retracing the inscription with a fine-point felt tip. However, that was Dreyfus, not Churchill, anybody can tell I’ve doctored it, and  I don’t recommend this for Churchill autographs….