"Thoughts and Adventures" Archives - Richard M. Langworth

Provide for Your Library

31 October 2010 Comments 0 Comments

“BILL’S BOOKS”

“What shall I do with all my books?” Churchill asked in Thoughts and Adventures. It is a question we should all ponder—while there is still time.

In the November 1st issue of National Review, Neal B. Freeman writes a touching and sensitive appreciation of the library of the late William F. Buckley, Jr.: an eclectic mix, from tomes on the harpsichord to biographies of Elvis Presley, from books inscribed to him to feverishly marked-up books relating to Buckley’s own writing, to the classics he admired. Because he had not thought to leave specific instructions, his library was broken up, scattered to the winds—and not everything in it reached an appreciative owner.…

A New Edition of “Thoughts and Adventures”

2 June 2009 Comments 0 Comments

An erudite new foreword and extensive footnotes instruct the modern reader by describing events, people and places no longer familiar. There is also a thick set of notes, on the origin of each essay, its titular and textual variations. In many cases we learn how it came to be written.Truly this is as eminent an edition of Thoughts and Adventures as we could hope to have—a tribute to the editor and Mr. Courtenay, as to the author. It serves inform future generations of Churchill’s political instinct, judgment, foresight and magnanimity.

Printed Signatures and “Painting as a Pastime”

1 May 2009 Comments 5 Comments

I recently acquired 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, however I am not an expert and am unsure. For this edition, is there a signature that has been printed under the photo? —W.R.

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 (and other hobbies—he is also big on books) was first published in The Strand magazine in 1921, reprinted in Thoughts and Adventures, and finally published as a volume in its own right in 1948.…