TLS signed “Yours sinc'ly, Winston S. Churchill,” one page, 7.5 x 9.5, Hyde Park Gate letterhead, August 4, 1950. Letter to editor and publisher Desmond Flower, in full: "Thank you for your letter. I have sent a telegram to Mr. Laughlin, a copy of which I enclose. You will see that my reason is pressure of public affairs; and it would be better for you to await a reply before telegraphing yourself and using arguments of a different character. If the Book of the Month Club's acceptance turns on a December publication, it would be a great pity to lose it." Churchill has marked the letter "Private" in his own hand. In fine condition.
Accompanied by a letter from Churchill's secretary, as well as a copy of the telegram sent from Churchill to Henry Laughlin, the president of Houghton Mifflin, dated August 4, 1950, which reads: "I find it extremely difficult to settle all the corrections, overtakes and cuts to be made in Volume 4 in time for a December publication by Book of the Month. You must realize how heavily the public affairs in the international crisis are pressing upon me. I have postponed my holiday at Biarritz and am returning here as soon as I can leave Strasbourg. I cannot see why the Book of the Month can only publish in December. Would not February be quite good? Surely this can be arranged? I must ask for consideration in view of international events. Meanwhile you can set up in galley proofs. Please telegraph. How is Volume 3 going? Here the reception and reviews have been very good. Nearly 300,000 were sold on the first day." A copy of Laughlin's brief response is also included.
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. The referenced "Volume 3" and "Volume 4" are assuredly The Grand Alliance and The Hinge of Fate, the titles of the third and fourth volumes from The Second World War.
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