TLS signed “Yours sincerely, Winston S. Churchill,” one page, 7.5 x 9.5, Hyde Park Gate letterhead, May 25, 1955. Letter to editor and publisher Desmond Flower, in full: "Your letter to Mr. Moir of May 19: I am very glad you like the new division. I am sure it will be better to bring the first volume down to the end of the Plantagenets. I am in favor of sub-titles for each of the volumes, but they require a lot of thought. There are already sub-titles for each of the books. I see no reason why both processes should not be combined." Churchill adds the date and salutation in his own hand. In fine condition, with secretarial notations to left margin. Desmond Flower (1907-1997) was the longtime editor and director at London's Cassell & Co., a publishing house that released numerous collected speeches by Churchill, in addition to two of his most enduring works: the six-volume The Second World War, and the four-volume A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, with the latter undoubtedly the very subject of this letter.
At the age of 81, Churchill retired from his post as Prime Minister on April 5, 1955, roughly two months before he wrote this letter, and, although he kept his eye on political events, the elderly statesman soon immersed himself in his favorite pastime by traveling about Europe and painting its various landscapes. In spite of his advanced age, Churchill remained meticulous in his approach as a writer and editor, which this letter plainly shows; such an astute attention to detail led to his well-deserved receipt of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for ‘his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.’
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