[CHURCHILL, WINSTON SPENCER]. London to Ladysmith Via Pretoria. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1900.
FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. Leather-bound, hardcover, octavo (18.5cm x 12cm x 4cm), pp. xiv, 498. English text, with maps and plans throughout. Handsomely rebound in full calf gilt by Bickers and Son, marbled page edges and endpapers, half-title, 3 foldout maps, 5 plans. Printed by Spottiswoode. Condition: VERY GOOD. Binding tight and secure. Light shelf wear to covers. Interior very well-preserved. Prize plate to front endpaper. An excellent copy.
Notes: First edition of Churchill's fourth book and personal record of his impressions during the first five months of the Second Boer War. When the Boer settlers in South Africa rebelled against British authority, Churchill joined with the 21st Lancers and "secured an assignment as press correspondent to the Morning Post ¦ He had scarcely arrived [in South Africa] before he was involved in a skirmish which found him 'in durance vile': a prisoner of war in Pretoria, unable to talk himself out of prison by claiming to be a reporter, and nearly mad over the lack of action. Typically, he made a daring escape ¦ The true-life adventure story of his successful escapade dominates this book, one of the most gripping in the canon, making this one of his most popular books" (Langworth).
