World at War
Our new catalogue chronicles the two World Wars and the tumult of the intervening years, comprising propaganda, artwork, photography, memoirs, and archives and ranging from the highest levels of command to the experiences of the ordinary soldier, alongside the artistic and literary responses to the conflicts.
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WORLD WAR I - HARRISON, Walter J. Manuscript diary recording his service with 27th Battery, Royal Field Artillery.[Western front : 1914-15]
An intimate record of a year of service in France, written for the author's wife and three children. Along with several of his gunner comrades, Harrison received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his service at Ligny, where he showed "bravery and devotion in withdrawing guns by hand under a heavy fire" (London Gazette).
Harrison's diary... Learn More -
WORLD WAR I. A large collection of press photographs of the First World War in two albums.[Zurich : 1914-18]
Two large albums containing a fine selection of double-size double-weight prints of press photographs, attractively laid out, and with a well-organized chronology. A remarkable overview of the First World War, documenting seven European theatres between 1914 and 1918.
The images are press photographs distributed through the Vertriebsstelle... Learn More -
WORLD WAR I - BUTLAND, John Robert. Manuscript log of service on board HMS Minerva, 2 August 1914 - 31 December 1917.At sea : 1914-17
A detailed firsthand account of naval operations in the Middle Eastern theatre during the war's formative first year. HMS Minerva saw action at the 1 November Battle of Akaba, the first British attack on Turkish forces after Mehmed V joined the Central Powers, and later at Gallipoli. The log substantially enriches the publicly available captain's... Learn More -
CHURCHILL, Winston S., and others. Visitor's book kept by Maurice Brett in Paris during the First World War.1914-18
A wartime visitor's book, including the signatures of Winston Churchill and around 750 others, including Douglas Haig, H. G. Wells, and Hilaire Belloc, giving a fascinating record of the movement of British military and other persons through Paris during the conflict.
The book belonged to Maurice Brett (1882-1934), Provost Marshal in Paris... Learn More -
DEVAMBEZ, André. Douze eaux-fortes.Paris : 1915
First edition, number 116 of 150 copies, signed and numbered by the artist on the title page and each plate. The haunting war images of Devambez trace their lineage to the work of Jacques Callot and Goya.
Devambez, a painter and illustrator, volunteered for the camouflage section in 1915 and was seriously wounded by shell fragments near... Learn More -
CABLE, Boyd, pseud. of Ernest Andrew Ewart. Between the Lines.London : 1915
First edition of this early fictionalised account of trench warfare. "Written at the Front within sound of the German guns" (preface), the book seeks to enlighten domestic readers of the conditions in battle; it presents an optimistic, heroic depiction of British soldiers' lives and combat in Flanders. Learn More -
GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN. Untitled Ottoman map of the Gallipoli Peninsula.[Istanbul] : [1915]
A rare example, untraced institutionally, of Ottoman military cartography, conveying information on physical geography, anchorages, and the layout of key towns for the purposes of defensive planning.
Compared to most Ottoman maps, this offered the granular perspective necessary to mount an effective, and ultimately successful, operational... Learn More -
DRINKWATER, John. Tides.London : 1917
First trade edition, the dedication copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title verso, "To Sir Ian Hamilton from John Drinkwater 1917". Drinkwater dedicates the book to Hamilton with the stanza "because the darling chivalries, / that light your battle-line, belong / to music's heart no less than these, / I bring you my campaigns of... Learn More -
WILSON, Woodrow. In Our First Year of War.New York : 1918
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the 28th President on the front free endpaper, "Mr Charles W. Dunn, With the compliments of Woodrow Wilson. 13 March, 1918".
The recipient Charles Wesley Dunn (1885-1959) studied at Princeton where "his favorite professor was Woodrow Wilson, who had a great influence on his intellectual... Learn More -
BRYANT, Louise. Six Red Months in Russia.London : 1918
First British edition of this sympathetic account of the Bolshevik revolution by the American radical journalist and suffragist, who praised the Bolsheviks as a progressive force for women's emancipation. On her return, Bryant undertook a nationwide speaking tour urging support for the nascent communist state.
The American edition was... Learn More -
TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK. Mirnyi dogovor mezhdu Rossiei s odnoi storony i Germaniei, Avstro-Vengriei, Bolgariei i Turtsiei s drugoi [Cyrillic script].Moscow : 1918
First Russian edition of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, by which the new regime withdrew Russia from the First World War. This was the copy of the British Foreign Office (with their library and withdrawal stamps), for whom the Treaty was a major geopolitical blow, threatening their defeat in the war.
Lenin ceded vast territories, nearly a... Learn More -
FREUD, Sigmund. Reflections on War and Death.New York : 1918
First edition in English, rare in the jacket. This collection brings together two essays written in 1915: "The Disappointments of War" and "Our Attitude Towards Death".
According to Freud, war "forces us again to be heroes who cannot believe in their own death, it stamps all strangers as enemies whose death we ought to cause or wish; it... Learn More -
MIDDLE EAST; WORLD WAR I. Memorial album of letters and photographs, recording the service of 2nd Lieutenant John Graham Wilkinson, 1/4th Battalion the Hampshire Regiment.India, Mesopotamia, and Persia : 1918
An unpublished and otherwise untraced First World War album recording the experiences of an officer serving in India, Mesopotamia, and with Dunsterforce in Persia. It preserves his lively letters home and over 150 photographs taken on duty, the final letter written only days before he was killed in action at Resht.
Most letters are... Learn More -
WOMEN'S LAND ARMY. Souvenir napkin in commemoration of the march of the Land Women through West End on April 20th 1918.London : 1918
A souvenir napkin advertising a parade through London of the Women's Land Army, intended to promote the organization and encourage agricultural volunteers. Napkins were commonly printed for large public ceremonies: "the most spectacular napkins were the souvenir issues of Mrs S. Burgess of London, who created items for various historical and... Learn More -
WILKINSON, Geoffrey Miles. Manuscript memorial volume of a pilot officer of 56 Squadron RFC.Ealing, Middlesex : 1918
A unique and deeply moving manuscript memorial, recording the life and short military career of 2nd Lieut. G. M. "Miles" Wilkinson (1898-1917), Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, attached to 56 Squadron RFC. Lovingly compiled and copied out by his mother, it follows the template of contemporary private memorial volumes: a biographical sketch,... Learn More -
SACRÉ, Lester Howard. Sidelights. Being an Official Series of Caricature Portraits.London : 1918
First edition, with 16 plates signed by the artist as issued. The book comprises an attractive suite of caricature portraits of leading British military figures, including "Wullie" Robertson, Capper, Allenby, Cowan, and Cockerill.
"Such caricatures as these by Sacré are indeed rather cartoons than caricatures. In every one of them what is... Learn More -
TREATY OF VERSAILLES. The Treaty of Peace between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany.London : 1919
First edition of the Treaty of Versailles, presentation copy, inscribed by David Lloyd George: "For the Henry Richard Library from one of his admiring countrymen, D. Lloyd George, July 26th 1927".
The Henry Richard Library of the Peace Society was named after its long-serving secretary, the Welsh MP. At the time of presentation, the... Learn More -
KEYNES, John Maynard. The Economic Consequences of the Peace.London : 1919
First edition, with "presentation copy" blindstamp to title page, of "one of the most influential books of the twentieth century" (Skidelsky, p. 384), a searing indictment of the Treaty of Versailles as fundamentally unjust and threatening the peace and security of Europe.
Keynes resigned from his position as principal representative of the... Learn More -
FREIKORPS. Freiwilliges Landesjägerkorps - Aufruf zum Eintritt als Freiwilliger.Magdeburg : [1919-20]
A striking recruitment poster for the Freikorps, the right-wing paramilitary formations that emerged from Germany's defeat in the First World War and were used to crush communist movements in the turmoil of the early Weimar Republic.
The Freiwilliges Landesjägerkorps was formed in December 1918 from the 214th Infanterie-Division by General... Learn More -
GANDHI, Mahatma. Two autograph letters signed relating to the Amritsar Massacre.Sinhagad : 1920
Gandhi writes to correct his report on the Amritsar Massacre, an event that shocked India and marked a milestone on the path to independence.
Following the massacre on 13 April 1919, Gandhi urged a boycott of the official investigation. He led an independent investigation and published an extensive report on 25 March 1920. This "Congress... Learn More
