No More Champagne

by David Lough

  6. 23 Dec 1929 VdaC note, CHAR 1/211/143.

  7. 12 Mar 1930 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/217/75; 7, 10, 13, 27 Feb 1930 Churchill purchases of Simmons shares (aggregating 650 shares, at prices from $761/8 down to 65¾), 1/217/35, 41, 49, 59.

  8. Author’s calculations using VdaC contract notes and accounts, CHAR 1/211, 217, 218.

  9. 16 Jan 1930 WSC ltr to G. Harrap, CHAR 8/271/7–8.

  10. 12, 16 Jan 1930 WSC corresp with TB, CHAR 8/274/1, 5.

  11. 28 Jan 1930 G. Dawson memo to W. Lints Smith, TNL Archive Sir Winston Churchill Managerial File, MAN/1.

  12. 15 Jan 1930 CSIII ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/277/1–4.

  13. 6, 30 Mar 1930 TB ltr to WSC, CSIII ltr to CB, Scribner’s Archive, 3A box 31/3, PUFL.

  14. 14 Feb 1930 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/216/41. Churchill forecast surpluses of £5,000 in the first half of 1930 and £7,400 in the following nine months.

  15. 12 Mar 1930 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/217/75.

  16. 25 Mar 1930 VdaC ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/217/100.

  17. 28 Jul 1930 M. Edwards Unpaid bills, CHAR 1/221/32. Of the total £2,813, Randolph Payne & Sons, wine merchants, accounted for £654. Bank interest would cost £800 for the quarter; life insurance premiums over £1,000.

  18. 21 Jun 1930 WSC draft ltr to WHB, CHAR 1/216/13–16.

  19. 1 Jul 1930 WHB note, CHAR 128/145/39–40; 12 Jul 1930 A. Bailey ltr to WSC, 1/218/90.

  20. 11, 15 Aug, 2 Sep, 16 Oct, 10 Nov 1930 VdaC reports and corresp with WSC, CHAR 1/218/5, 24, 45, 64, 91, 93, 94, 105, 114; 1/219/2; 24 Oct 1930 BMB ltr to WSC, Baruch Papers, MC006 Vol 66, PUMM. Churchill’s profit (before funding and transaction costs) was $2,600.

  21. 25, 27, 30 Oct, 1 Nov 1930 Sunday Chronicle corresp with WSC and secretary, CHAR 8/276/315–6. Churchill accepted the newspaper’s offer of £250, plus 25 per cent of any US sale; offered the subject of Moses, he asked whether anyone else was available. The Sunday Chronicle told him Joseph, Noah and David were free, but it thought Moses more fitting for Churchill, as a leader and lawgiver.

  22. 16 Aug 1930 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/274/142.

  23. 23, 27 Jun 1930 WSC ltr to CSIII, Daily Chronicle ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/274/95, 8/809/1. The newspaper paid £1,500 for the rights, ‘far beyond any price they have previously paid for serials’, Churchill told Scribner.

  24. 24 Sep 1930 WSC ltr to S. Baldwin, Baldwin Papers 5C2:186.

  25. 5, 19 Dec 1930 CSIII ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/277/128, 129; 17 Dec 1930 TB ltr to WSC, 8/275/126. Pre-publication orders were 4,830 in Britain; 811 in the US. By the end of 1930, 9,700 copies had sold in Britain and 4,700 in the US. Gross British royalties (£2,145) fell short of Churchill’s £2,500 advance.

  26. 9 Dec 1930 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/218/87.

  27. 17 Dec 1930 WSC ltr to NM, CHAR 1/215/62.

  28. 14 Jan 1931 VdaC account, CHAR 1/225/17, 19, 20.

  29. 12 Jan 1931 H. Frank ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/393/94.

  30. 12, 14 Jan 1931 VdaC ltrs to WSC, CHAR 1/225/17, 19, 20. Churchill repaid the £2,000 loan on 15 September 1931.

  31. 12 Jan 1931 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/229/21.

  32. 8 Jan 1931 WSC ltr to RSC, 5C2:242; 25 Feb 1931 WSC schedule, CHAR 8/292/19.

  33. 22 Jan, 28 Apr 1931 CSIII ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/296/5, 10; 20–26 Feb 1931 TB corresp with WSC, 8/294/8, 11, 14, 15, 17,20. During the first ten weeks after its publication, the abridged World Crisis sold 2,100 copies in the US and 3,500 in Britain (where – as Butterworth had predicted – the lending libraries shunned it).

  34. 21 Mar 1931 WSC ltr to N. Pearn, CHAR 8/295/34. Pearn sold it to the Sunday Pictorial.

  35. 17 Dec 1930 C. King opinion, NM brief, NA IR 40/12833.

  36. 10, 15 April 1931 WSC corresp with P. Grigg, CHAR 1/224/1–2, 1/397/207.

  37. 17 Jun 1931 R. Cave cbl to CSIII, Scribner’s Archive, Author files I, 3A box 31/4, PUFL.

  38. 19, 23 Jun 1931 CSIII corresp with J. Carter, ibid.; 19 Jun 1931 C. Scribner letter to WSC, CHAR 8/296/17–19.

  39. 21 Aug 1931 BRB ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/816/20–1. The London General Press Agency (LGPA) paid £200, but terminated its remaining contract with Churchill after claiming Curtis Brown had previously hawked the material around the market. Churchill insisted on receiving a further £600, giving rise to lawsuits in both directions. The trial was delayed until late in 1932 by LGPA’s insistence on a Special Jury, but financial difficulties prompted it to settle earlier by paying Churchill £750. LGPA survived, but did not handle any further Churchill material until 1935.

  40. 24 Sep 1931 VdaC statement, CHAR 1/226/56; 30 Jun 1931 LlBk statement, 1/229/14. Churchill’s receipts were £3,300; his expenditure before bank interest and investment losses £8,500. He paid £1,200 interest annually to his bankers; £700 of interest and life assurance charges to Commercial Union: £250 of interest to stockbrokers. (These figures exclude the additional interest that Churchill paid on the loans from his family trusts.)

  41. 7 Aug 1931 WSC ltr to EHM, Marsh Papers, EMAR/2, CAC.

  42. 16, 17 Jul 1931 TB ltr to WSC, cited in WSC reply, CHAR 8/294/99.

  43. 16, 17 Jul, 11, 14 Aug 1931 WSC corresp with TB, WHB, CHAR 8/294/99; 28/145/55; LlBk statement 1/229/14.

  44. 2, 3 Sep 1931 WHB corresp with E. Merrick-Taylor, LlBk statement, CHAR 28/145/53, 1/397/140, 1/229/21.

  45. 3, 4, 5 Sep 1931 WSC corresp with WHB, LlBk statement, CHAR 28/145/64, 65, 68; 1/229/20.

  46. Aug 1931 WSC schedule, CHAR 1/239.

  47. The records of 1930s holidays during which Churchill drew money from his bank at French casinos suggest he incurred losses on eleven out of twelve occasions. From 1931–6, he averaged losses of approximately £900 a year; in 1937 and 1938 the loss was lower at an average of £125 a year. In January 1939 he won slightly over £100 – author’s estimates from WSC LlBk statements (casino withdrawals, less deposits on return home and an allowance for expenses).

  48. Aug, Sep 1931 LlBk statements, CHAR 1/229/18–20.

  49. 3 Sep 1931 WSC ltr to G. Harrap, 5C2:355.

  50. 10 Sep 1931 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/294/108.

  51. 21 Sep 1931 WSC ltr to CSIII, Scribner’s Archive, Authors files I, 3A Box 31/4, PUFL; 9, 23 Oct 1931 CSIII ltrs and contracts to WSC, CHAR 8/296/29, Scribner’s Archive, Authors files I, 3A box 31/4, PUFL. Over the following year, Churchill changed his mind several times about the order in which the two books should be published; in May 1932, he chose Thoughts and Adventures first – see 7 May 1932 5C2:426.

  52. RSC memoirs, 5C2:384 footnote 1. RSC earned fees of $12,000.

  53. 10, 12 Nov 1931 JSC ltr to WSC, LlBk statement, CHAR 1/226/70, 1/229/27.

  54. 3 Nov 1931 WSC ltr to RSC, CHAR 1/226/74.

  55. M. Ashley Churchill as a Historian, p. 122.

  56. 20 Nov 1931 TB ltr to WSC, TB account, CHAR 8/294/138, 152; 16 Nov 1931 CSIII ltr to WSC, Scribner’s Archive, Authors files I, 3A box 31/4, PUFL; 10 Dec 1931 J. Poli memo to CSIII, ibid. Pre-launch sales in Britain had reached only 3,852 and Churchill’s cheque on publication was for £459. Published in America under the title The Unknown War, sales at publication were 1,500.

  15. Trading Futures, 1932–3

  1. 23 Dec 1931 WSC ltr to J. McCulloch, CHAR 1/399B/176. Churchill’s hospital bill was $420.

  2. U/d Phoenix Assurance ltr to WHB, CHAR 28/145/92.

  3. 14 Dec 1931 WSC cbl to WHB, CHAR 28/145/91.

  4. 16 Dec 1931 WSC cbl to E. Harmsworth, 5C2:383.

  5. Randolph Churchill papers, 5C2:390–2.

  6. 15 Jan 1932 WHB ltr to WSC, CHAR 28/145/105.

  7. Mar 1932 WSC cbl to JSC, CHAR 1/398/118. On 28 December 1931 Churchill purchased an option to buy £6,000 at an exchange rate of $3.43, valid until the end of March 1932.

  8. 12 Jan 1932 CSC ltr to RSC, 5C2:396.

  9. WSC schedule, CHAR 1/224/18, 23. His revised forecast of his profits was £4,600.

  10. 10 Feb 1932 WSC cbl to R. Boothby, CHAR 1/238/30.

  11. 29 Feb 1932 WSC cbl to E. Harmsworth, CHAR 8/309/12.

/>   12. 23 Feb 1932 WSC ltr to L. Levy, CHAR 1/399/142.

  13. 9 Mar 1932 C. Vickers cbl to WSC, CHAR 1/398/114. For the first time since Britain left the gold standard London interest rates had fallen from 6 per cent; they reached 2 per cent in June, where they stayed until 24 August 1939.

  14. 8 Mar, 8 Jul 1932 NCBNY note to WSC, CHAR 1/239/9, 49, 68; also Mar, Apr 1932 1/239/17, 27, 28, 58, 59. Churchill ‘rolled over’ his first contracts at the end of March, but ‘closed’ them in the first week of April after a surge in sterling, netting $2,600 profit. His second foray, when he bought £4,000 sterling forward in May for July delivery, lost $667.

  15. 9 Feb 1932 BRB ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/398/46. CHAR 1/231/2 Churchill’s former girlfriend, Pamela Plowden (now Countess Lytton) could not afford to contribute: ‘Alas that we cannot join the rich acquaintances, but must remain outside as affectionate friends.’ Four press barons (Beaverbrook, Harmsworth, Camrose and Riddell) were contributors, as were Charlie Chaplin, John Maynard Keynes, the prince of Wales, the duke of Westminster, Sir Edwin Luytens and Harold Macmillan.

  16. 21 Jun 1932 WSC ltr to H. Vickers, 5C2:435.

  17. 22 Jun 1931 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/235/59.

  18. 28 Jul 1932 WSC ltr to JSC, CHAR 1/236/22.

  19. 28, 29, 30 Jul 1932 VdaC contract notes, CHAR 1/235/82, 84; 2 Aug 1932 WSC ltr to FNB, 1/238/80.

  20. 19 July 1974 K. Feiling ltr to M. Gilbert, 5:437.

  21. 11 Aug 1932 VdaC ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/236/48.

  22. Aug 1932 VdaC advice notes, CHAR 1/236/56, 85, 90, 91, 92, 96, 98, 102, 105. The sum covers London and New York commission costs.

  23. 2 Sep 1932 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/236/110, 116–17.

  24. 16 May 1932 WSC ltr to TB, CHAR 8/312/41.

  25. 30 Apr, 31 May 1932 WSC ltrs to EHM, Marsh papers EMAR/2 CAC, CHAR 8/306/40.

  26. 5 Aug 1932 WSC ltr to E. Harmsworth, CHAR 8/309/28–9.

  27. 26 May 1932 WSC article Daily Mail.

  28. 30 Jul 1932 G. Riddell ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/311/2.

  29. 2, 5 Aug 1932 WSC corresp with G. Riddell, CHAR 8/311/3–4, 9.

  30. 5 Aug 1932 WSC ltr to EHM, CHAR 8/311/11–12.

  31. 25, 28 July 1932 N. Pearn corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/313/65–66, 67.

  32. 18 Jul 1932 WSC ltrs to G. Harrap, CHAR 8/315/6.

  33. 23 Aug 1932 WSC ltr to R. Pakenham-Walsh, 5C2:469–70.

  34. Sep 1932 LlBk statements, CHAR 1/229/50–53. Hotel and sanatorium expenses were £750.

  35. U/d 1932 V. Pearman ltr to EHM, 5C2:444; C. Hassall, Eddie Marsh, p. 575; 29 Dec 1932 TB ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/312/159; 25 Nov, 20 Dec 1932 CSIII ltr and cbl to WSC, 8/314/42, 46. Thoughts and Adventures was published in Britain on 10 November 1932. Butterworth initially ordered the printing of 4,000 copies, but strong orders filtered through before launch and sales passed 7,000 before the end of the year. The US edition, Amid These Storms (published a fortnight later), sold 3,000 copies by the end of January 1933.

  36. 17 Sep 1932 WSC ltr to EHM, CHAR 8/311/23.

  37. 11 Nov 1932 WSC ltr to EHM, 5C2:489.

  38. 3 Dec 1932 WSC ltr to EHM, CHAR 8/311/105. The Chicago Tribune did not renew.

  39. 5 Dec 1932 WSC ltr to EHM, Marsh papers 5C2:501.

  40. 30 Oct 1932 WSC ltr to N. Flower, CHAR 8/308/1–5.

  41. 7 Oct 1932 WSC cbl to BMB, Baruch Papers MC006 Vol 70, PUMM.

  42. 6, 8, 24 Oct 1932 WSC corresp with G. Duis, CHAR 1/239/73, 78b, 83.

  43. 12 Nov 1931 NM ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/223/65–7. The Churchills took over the lease, costing £380 a year, from Frances Stevenson, Lloyd George’s mistress.

  44. 19 Oct 1932 A. Bailey ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/239/29.

  45. 12 Nov, 14 Dec 1932 WSC corresp with H. Osborne, NM, CHAR 1/233/76, 87, 120; Dec 1932 NM ltr to WSC, 1/259/104. Churchill released seven-tenths of the Elder Children’s Settlement’s capital back to himself, reducing his loan from the trust to £3,358. Diana’s marriage lasted only three years until 1935, when she remarried Duncan Sandys MP.

  46. 1932 LlBk statements CHAR 1/241; LlBk schedule, 1/304/61; A. Atkinson, Top Incomes in the United Kingdom over the Twentieth Century, author’s calculations using tables in Fig 4, 5, Table A1, pp. 36–40. Apart from investment losses, Churchill’s other main spending headings in 1932 were: £5,700 tax, £2,800 transfers to Clementine (extra to her normal allowances); £1,200 staff (secretarial and literary); £215 club subscriptions; and £900 payments to Randolph and Diana.

  47. Jan 1933 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/241/64.

  48. 19 Feb 1933 WSC ltr to Arnold, CHAR 1/243/26.

  49. 16, 18 Feb 1933 WSC cbls to Frazier Jelke, NCBNY, CHAR 1/246/32, 33; 1/249/36.

  50. 16 May 1933 BRB ltr to BMB, Baruch Papers, MC006 Vol 73, PUMM.

  51. 18, 21, 22 April 1933 WSC cbls to G. Duis, CHAR 1/251/21, CHAR 1/252/14, 15, 16; 24 Apr 1933 VdaC advice note, CHAR 1/247/78.

  52. Apr–Jul 1933 WSC corresp with NCBNY, VdaC, LlBk, CHAR 1/251, 1/246, 1/249/various. On 6 July 1933, Churchill had sold ‘forward’ against sterling: US$50,000, C$40,000 and 200,000 francs.

  53. May, Jun 1933 VdaC, Frazier Jelke advice notes; 29 Jun 1933 VdaC New York account, CHAR 1/246/91 et seq., 138; 1/247/28. For example, Churchill judged Worthington Pump’s trading range as between prices of $17 and $20: he twice switched in and out of the stock successfully, then kept ‘shorting’ it as it rose to $21, $23½ and $26. He finally cut his losses when the price had doubled to $35.

  54. 10, 11 Jul 1933 H. Vickers ltr to WSC, VdaC summary, CHAR 1/247/21, 30.

  55. 24 Jul, 10, 11 Aug 1933 VdaC ltrs to WSC, CHAR 1/247/54, 71, 73.

  56. 11 Aug 1933 VdaC ltr to WSC, CHAR 1/247/76; 24 Oct 1933, LlBk advice note, 1/248/35.

  57. 20, 28 Mar, 10 Apr 1933 N. Pearn corresp with WSC, V. Pearman, CHAR 8/336/40, 41, 45, 53.

  58. 9 Mar 1933 G Riddell ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/332/63–5; 14 Mar 1933 G. Tingay ltr to WSC, 8/335/76–73; Oct 1933 V. Pearman note to WSC, 8/328/57.

  59. 6, 12 Oct 1932 W. Harrap ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/324/66; V. Pearman note, 8/324/91; 28 Jul 1933 CSIII ltr to WSC, 8/337/16; 1/251/61. Churchill expected Harrap’s advance to be £4,000, but their contract stated £3,000, which was reduced to £2,728 by bills for indexing, printers’ corrections and presentation copies. The US edition was published on 10 November: Charles Scribner’s warning that the book ‘may prove to be a little too solid’ for the American public was vindicated when the 4,000 copies printed took ten years to sell. Churchill received a cheque for $6,440 after Scribner deducted $560 US income tax from the $7,000 advance.

  60. 7 Oct 1933 S. Baldwin ltr to WSC, 5C2:663.

  61. 15 Oct 1933 WSC cbl to BMB, Baruch Papers MC006 Vol.73, PUMM.

  62. Sep 1931 BMB schedule, Baruch Papers, MC006/742, PUMM.

  63. 20 Sep 1933 WSC ltrs to LlBk, CHAR 1/250/39, 51.

  64. 17, 18 Oct G. Mason corresp with WSC, CHAR 1/250/69, 73.

  65. 28 Sep 1933 VdaC valuation, CHAR 1/248/4; 10 Jan 1935 NM ltr, 1/276/3.

  66. 31 Dec 1933 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/241/ 98, VdaC accounts 1/230/8–28. Stock market losses were £6,000; gambling losses approximately £1,000.

  16. Summoning More Ghosts, 1934–5

  1. 15, 18 Nov 1933 W. Blackwood corresp with WSC, CHAR 8/333/1–2, 13. Blackwood proposed £50 per article.

  2. See 5C2:502. Publications included: Pearson’s Magazine, Pictorial Weekly, the Evening Standard and the Sunday Chronicle.

  3. 30 Oct 1987 Chartwell Memories – Early Encounters, G. Hamblin speech to International Churchill Society, Dallas, Texas.

  4. 26 Dec 1933 WSC ltr to G. Harrap, CHAR 8/325/166–9.

  5. 1, 5 Jan 1934 WSC corresp with Ld Camrose letter to WSC, 5C2:694–5, 697–8.

  6. 23 Mar 1933 R. Crossett ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/36/44.

  7. 1 Mar 1934 WSC ltr to H. Osborne, NM, CHAR 8/495/7–12.

  8. 19 Mar 1934 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/241/109.

  9. An informant had told Churchill that evidence originally given to the India Select Committee by the Manchester Chamb
er of Commerce (representing Lancashire’s important textile interests and hostile to the proposed reform) had been kept locked up in the India Office, while the secretary of state, Sir Samuel Hoare, and others persuaded the chamber to send a harmless replacement. Churchill raised the issue with the Speaker, who referred it to the Privileges Committee of senior parliamentarians. Churchill spent £500 of his own money obtaining legal advice before appearing in front of the committee late in April 1934. The committee refused Churchill’s requests to question other witnesses or examine the correspondence between Sir Samuel and his alleged accomplices. It found unanimously against Churchill early in June, arguing that any ‘pressure’ applied to the Manchester Chamber was not illegitimate, since the committee was not a ‘judicial body’. The India Bill passed into law in June 1935.

  10. 22 Jun 1934 WSC ltr to EHM, Marsh Papers, Berg Collection, NYPL. ‘One must regard the hyphen as a blemish to be avoided wherever possible,’ Churchill told Marsh, whom he considered overfond of the device.

  11. 11, 13 Apr 1934 WSC ltrs to N. Flower, K. Feiling, CHAR 8/506/8, 10.

  12. 10 May 1934 W. Blackwood ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/492/60.

  13. 13 May 1934 A. Marshall Diston ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/493/25.

  14. 2 Jul 1934 The Times.

  15. Jan 1934 LlBk contracts, statement, CHAR 1/63/various, 1/241/101.

  16. 27, 30 Apr 1934 WSC cbl corresp with BMB, CHAR 1/255/6, 7. ‘Reasonably priced around 40, cheap at 30,’ Baruch replied. 5, 7, 10, 11 May VdaC contract notes, 1/261/5, 11, 15, 17.

  17. 4 Jul 1934 LlBk ltr to WSC, statement CHAR 1/264/20, 1/241/116. 15 Sep 1934 WSC schedules, 1/264/77, 78.

  18. 16 Aug 1934 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:847–9.

  19. 20, 23 Aug 1934 G. Riddell cbl, ltr to WSC, CHAR 8/491/1, 3.

  20. 25 Aug 1934 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:856.

  21. 26 Aug 1934 CSC ltr to WSC, 5C2:861–2.

  22. 27 Aug 1934 WSC ltr to CSC, 5C2:862–3.

  23. Aug 1934 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/241/22.

  24. 13 Sep, 11 Dec 1934 NM ltrs to WSC, CHAR 1/259/83, 121.

  25. 23, 25 Sep 1934 WSC corresp with A. Korda, CHAR 8/495/64–5, 69.

  26. 31 Oct, 5 Dec 1934 C. Wood ltrs to WSC, CHAR 8/486/201, 257. Sales were 9,500 in the first month, then slowed.

  27. 30 Oct 1934 LlBk statement, CHAR 1/241/26,6. Churchill paid £2,383 of 1932/3 income tax and £1,730 of 1932/3 sur-tax. Scribner was due to pay $7,000 – he paid in February 1935 although he delayed the US launch until March 1935. R. Cohen, Bibliography of the Writings of Sir Winston Churchill, p. 429: 3,040 copies were printed; slow sales resulted in the stock lasting until December 1941. 17 August 1935 WSC ltr to CSIII, 8/517/17; Churchill shared Scribner’s disappointment: ‘I am full of the deepest gloom at the ill success of all our joint projects. You are the only publisher I have ever dealt with who has not profited by our collaboration.’