CHURCHILL, Winston S. Autograph letter signed ("Winston S. Churchill"), to Lord Rosslyn, 26 October 1900. 1 page, 8vo, blank integral, 105 Mount Street stationery . [ With :] ST. CLAIR-ERSKINE, James F.H., 5th Earl of ROSSLYN. Archive of 48 letters and documents relating to the controversy surrounding Rosslyn's publication of Twice Captured (1900).
CHURCHILL, Winston S. Autograph letter signed ("Winston S. Churchill"), to Lord Rosslyn, 26 October 1900. 1 page, 8vo, blank integral, 105 Mount Street stationery . [ With :] ST. CLAIR-ERSKINE, James F.H., 5th Earl of ROSSLYN. Archive of 48 letters and documents relating to the controversy surrounding Rosslyn's publication of Twice Captured (1900). CHURCHILL'S HONOR IMPUGNED IN CONNECTION WITH HIS DARING ESCAPE FROM A BOER PRISON CAMP Churchill took exception to the following passage, on p.335 of Rosslyn's 1900 book, Twice Captured: A record of adventure during the Boer War : "Talking of escapes, the story of Winston Churchill's was already known to me through his own description...though, I am afraid, he was not a persona grata with his fellow-prisoners, and, as far as I could ascertain, did not play quite fairly with the others who concocted the plot, but, according to them, followed the principle of sauve qui peut rather than 'shoulder to shoulder.'" Here Churchill acknowledges a letter from Rosslyn, and informs him he has sent it along to his solicitors, "Messrs Lewis & Lewis, in whose hands the matter lies and to whom you should address any further communication." In what appears to be an after-thought, he writes, "I must be guided by their advice." In a draft letter to Churchill (undated) Rosslyn says, "I wish that you had written direct to me as you might have been sure of my desire to correct any possible misapprehension. What happened, as you know, was that the escape having been arranged by Haldane and others you subsequently asked to be allowed to join them, and left before the agreed time thereby getting away while they did not then escape. Doubtless this was due to impetuosity or good fortune and I intended nothing offensive by the expression sauve qui peut. I will have a note put in the book to this effect if that is what you want." The lot also includes a 26 October 1900 letter from the Hasties law firm, on Rosslyn's behalf, inquiring if Churchill was rightly quoted in the Morning Post for allegedly imputing to Rosslyn a libelous attack against the 10th Hussars in his book. The archive contains demands for apologies (which Rosslyn supplies) to the commanding officer and men of the 10th Hussars, as well as some 20 letters from various correspondents, either damning or praising Rosslyn for what he wrote. Several correspondents have some harsh words for Churchill, calling him "very ungentlemanly," "wicked, unjust," "cowardly," and one goes so far as to call him "that blatant, jumpy cub, Churchill." (49)
CHURCHILL, Winston S. Autograph letter signed ("Winston S. Churchill"), to Lord Rosslyn, 26 October 1900. 1 page, 8vo, blank integral, 105 Mount Street stationery . [ With :] ST. CLAIR-ERSKINE, James F.H., 5th Earl of ROSSLYN. Archive of 48 letters and documents relating to the controversy surrounding Rosslyn's publication of Twice Captured (1900).
CHURCHILL, Winston S. Autograph letter signed ("Winston S. Churchill"), to Lord Rosslyn, 26 October 1900. 1 page, 8vo, blank integral, 105 Mount Street stationery . [ With :] ST. CLAIR-ERSKINE, James F.H., 5th Earl of ROSSLYN. Archive of 48 letters and documents relating to the controversy surrounding Rosslyn's publication of Twice Captured (1900). CHURCHILL'S HONOR IMPUGNED IN CONNECTION WITH HIS DARING ESCAPE FROM A BOER PRISON CAMP Churchill took exception to the following passage, on p.335 of Rosslyn's 1900 book, Twice Captured: A record of adventure during the Boer War : "Talking of escapes, the story of Winston Churchill's was already known to me through his own description...though, I am afraid, he was not a persona grata with his fellow-prisoners, and, as far as I could ascertain, did not play quite fairly with the others who concocted the plot, but, according to them, followed the principle of sauve qui peut rather than 'shoulder to shoulder.'" Here Churchill acknowledges a letter from Rosslyn, and informs him he has sent it along to his solicitors, "Messrs Lewis & Lewis, in whose hands the matter lies and to whom you should address any further communication." In what appears to be an after-thought, he writes, "I must be guided by their advice." In a draft letter to Churchill (undated) Rosslyn says, "I wish that you had written direct to me as you might have been sure of my desire to correct any possible misapprehension. What happened, as you know, was that the escape having been arranged by Haldane and others you subsequently asked to be allowed to join them, and left before the agreed time thereby getting away while they did not then escape. Doubtless this was due to impetuosity or good fortune and I intended nothing offensive by the expression sauve qui peut. I will have a note put in the book to this effect if that is what you want." The lot also includes a 26 October 1900 letter from the Hasties law firm, on Rosslyn's behalf, inquiring if Churchill was rightly quoted in the Morning Post for allegedly imputing to Rosslyn a libelous attack against the 10th Hussars in his book. The archive contains demands for apologies (which Rosslyn supplies) to the commanding officer and men of the 10th Hussars, as well as some 20 letters from various correspondents, either damning or praising Rosslyn for what he wrote. Several correspondents have some harsh words for Churchill, calling him "very ungentlemanly," "wicked, unjust," "cowardly," and one goes so far as to call him "that blatant, jumpy cub, Churchill." (49)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
