3 February 1949 press photo of Churchill giving a speech in London's Guildhall for Sale

3 February 1949 press photo of Churchill giving a speech in London's Guildhall For Sale

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

3 February 1949 press photo of Churchill giving a speech in London's Guildhall:
$225.00

An original press photograph of Winston S. Churchill giving a speech on 3 February 1949 in London's Guildhall after receiving the Grotius Medal in honor of his advocacy for European unity

Condition: Very Good minus

This original press photograph is a quintessential image of Winston S. Churchill as orator, delivering a speech in London’s venerable Guildhall after receiving the Grotius Medal on 3 February 1949. Churchill is captured full-length from a low angle in a frock coat, his closed hands near his lapels, his commanding presence set against the background of the Guildhall that was already ancient in Churchill’s 19thcentury Victorian youth. The gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper measures 10 x 8 in (25.4 x 20.3 cm). Condition is very good minus. The paper is crisp and clean with some minor edge wear, a diagonal crease above Churchill’s head, bumped corners, and light scuffing visible only under raking light. This photograph features original hand-applied retouching to Churchill’s clothes and lectern, as well as original crop marks.

The verso bears the copyright stamp of “International News Photos” (covered by the original caption slip) and handwritten printing notations. The typed caption is titled HOLLAND HONOURS MR. CHURCHILL BY PRESENTATION OF THE GROTIUS MEDAL 3-2-49” and reads “At a ceremony at the Guildhall, London, today, presided over by the Lord Mayor, Sir George Aylwen, Mr. Winston Churchill was presented with the Grotius gold medal by a representative of the Dutch equivalent of the United Nations Association, The Vereniging Voor Internationale Rechtsorde. The medal was instituted in 1925, on the 300thanniversary of the publication of ‘De Jure Belli et Pacis’ by Hugo Grotius, which laid the foundations of International Law.” (Churchill, the “young man in a hurry” who used red “Action This Day” document labels during his wartime premiership, would have appreciated Grotius’s personal mottoRuit hora,time is running away.)

In 1925 the Grotius Medal was established as an award for services rendered in the cause of intentional peace or international law. Churchill was an early and ardent advocate of European unity. His 1946 Zurich speech formally revived the proposal for unification of Europe and “was widely discussed in Europe and America … interpreted by the Press of the world as an indication that the proposal for a United Europe must henceforth be recognized as a live and practical issue in international politics.” Some might find it difficult to comprehend that the twentieth century figure who served as the lodestone of quintessentially British vitality and an icon of Conservative Party leadership was a vital advocate for pan-European integration. It helps to remember the life experience that informed Churchill’s perspective.

Churchill had been a soldier, war leader, politician, and statesman, and had shouldered consequential leadership during two world wars; he could not fail to be a realist.Indeed, the very building in which Churchill spoke testified to both the resilience and vulnerability of Britain; Guildhall spent half a millennium as a London civic and ceremonial centre before its Great Hall’s roof was razed by German air raids on the night of 29 December 1940, during Churchill’s wartime premiership. Postwar Britain was diminished economically, militarily, and territorially. Churchill’s son Randolph wrote a few years later in his introduction to a 1950 book of his father’s speeches that Britain's "place in the world can only be regained" in part by "assumption by Britain of a leading role in promoting the unity of Europe." In the speech that Churchill is here pictured delivering he continues to emphasize the necessity of a United Europe, “Amid many difficulties and grave perils, Britain and the Netherlands, together with their neighbours are striving toward a unity that had never existed in Europe at any time since the fall of the Roman Empire.” (Complete Speeches, Vol. VII, p. 7783)

Ref #: 005252
CHURCHILL BOOK COLLECTOR
We areChurchill Book Collector, a professional booksellerspecializing in books and other published works by and about the great twentieth century statesman and acclaimed writer, Sir Winston Churchill.We offer both a singular inventoryand approachable expertise.The integrity of our inventory is backed by our membership in the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA).Churchill's official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, rightly called Churchill's long life "remarkable and versatile". Statesman, soldier, war correspondent, ardent social reformer, combative cold warrior, painter - Churchill was many things, but perhaps above all a master wordsmith. We’re here to help Churchill’s words find your shelves.Our extensive inventory features some of the rarest material offered – including fine first editions and inscribed copies – as well as reading copies and works about Churchill’s life and time.While we specialize in Churchill, our inventory also includes noteworthy first and collectible editions by other authors, ranging from Xenophon to T. E. Lawrence, spanning exploration and empire to twentieth century fiction.We are able to help with anything from finding individual books to assembling full collections, working closely with individual collectors to identify and accommodate their preferences and budget. We are also able to commission preservation cases and fine bindings. Please contact us if you have books to sell. We buy, and in some cases consign, fine and collectible individual items, as well as whole collections.