For Free Trade

Sacramento, California: The Churchilliana Company, 1977. First U.S. edition. Hardcover. This copy of the first U.S. edition in the publisher’s "Collector's" binding is in as-new condition with no wear, soiling, previous ownership marks, or any signs of handling or use. We acquired this copy long ago from the publisher's unsold stock.

Published in 1906, For Free Trade is the second scarcest of all Churchill's book-length works (second only to Mr. Brodrick's Army). The good news is that there is an alternative for both readers and collectors. This meticulous facsimile reprint of the original 1906 first edition was produced in 1977 and is the first American edition. The original 119 pages plus red card wraps are faithfully reproduced and 5 additional pages are added at the front including a preface by Manfred Weidhorn. The publisher offered two grades of binding – a brick red cloth “library” binding and this “collector’s binding” featuring brown buckram spine over yellow-tan linen cloth covered boards. In both binding variants, the spine and front cover are gilt-stamped. The endpapers reproduce Churchill's entry in Who's Who.

In late May 1904, Churchill famously left his father's Conservative Party and crossed the aisle to become a Liberal, swiftly earning a reputation as both a brash young radical and a traitor to his class. The 1906 General Election was the first which Churchill fought as a Liberal. Free trade was a policy issue on which he had opposed Conservative Party leadership and which had helped precipitate his defection from the party. Churchill’s first constituency (from 1900-1906) as a Member of Parliament – Oldham – favored the Conservative policy of protectionism. Churchill’s advocacy of free trade and defection to the Liberal Party led the Oldham Conservative Association to pass a resolution that he “had forfeited their confidence in him.” Churchill was invited to stand for North West Manchester, a traditionally Conservative seat that he won as a Liberal in the 1906 General Election.

Reference: Cohen A18.2.a, Woods/ICS A9(b), Langworth p.79.