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"THE GOVERNMENT
 IS THE SERVANT
 OF THE PEOPLE
 AND NOT ITS MASTER"

Winston Churchill
Oslo 1948

 

Volume 15 Issue 1 Winter 2003

On Saturday, April 26, 2003 the Churchill Society along with the Friends of Trinity Library are very excited to present "Collecting Churchill: A Colloquium to Celebrate the Gift of the Watt Collection of Churchilliana."  This long-awaited event is the culmination of last year’s fundraising campaign to purchase portions of Bart Watt’s Churchill collection following his passing.  This splendid and prestigious collection complements the Churchill collection already in Trinity Library and is worthy of much celebration in its acquisition.  The day’s three-part program will take place at Trinity College in Toronto and include expert discussion and analysis of the collection, a lunch and champagne toast to thank the generous donors, and a viewing of the collection. 

The colloquium on the collection will begin the day’s events at 10:30 a.m. in the George Ignatieff Theatre.  The first speaker will be Hugh Anson-Cartwright, owner of Anson Cartwright books in Toronto.  Mr. Anson Cartwright will share his many insights on what is involved in collecting, including how collections are formed, how to judge the quality and rarity of items, and what makes a prominent collection.  This discussion will be followed with remarks by Ron Cohen, who has written “Sir Winston Churchill: A Bibliography of His Published Works”, a project to which has consumed the last twenty years of his life (a late draft of the bibliography, in seven spiral-bound volumes, is in the Graham Library).  In preparing the bibliography, Mr. Cohen immersed himself in the Bart Watt collection and has an intimate knowledge of it.  He will speak to the scope of Churchillian artifacts worldwide, the importance of the Watt collection, and how it compares to other collections.  Lastly, Linda Corman, head librarian at Trinity College, will reveal details on the various pieces in the collection itself.  Miss Corman has been working to develop the Churchill Collection at Trinity since the late 1980s and helped to decide which items of the Watt collection would become part of the collection at Trinity.

To appreciate the great excitement around this collection, one need not look any further than the inclusion of the first edition of Mr. Brodrick's Army.  This copy, one of only three recorded copies in the world, chronicles Churchill's notorious attack on the Secretary of State for War's plan for expansion of the peacetime army from two to three divisions.  It includes the timeless quote, "If we are hated, they will not make us loved.  If we are in danger, they will not make us safe.  They are enough to irritate; they are not enough to overawe.  Yet, while they cannot make us invulnerable, they may very likely make us venturesome."  There are also manuscript originals of two letters of Churchill in the collection, including one to Lord Noel-Buxton dated 4 May 1944 in which he forcefully dismisses the petition of Noel-Buxton and his group arguing for a negotiated peace.  Finally, there is also a collection of Churchill's own copies of translations of many of his works, as well as many other special editions of exceptional rarity, interest and importance that you will have to see for yourself.

To cover the cost of lunch for this event there will be a $20 registration fee.  It should also be noted that in addition to the Bart Watt collection viewing, there will also be a display of Churchill as a young parliamentarian in the Churchill room at Trinity Library.  Following the viewing, guests are invited to attend our annual general meeting that will be held in the combination room at Trinity College. 

The drawing of Churchill was published in ‘Everyman’ on 21 August 1914 at a time when, according to Sir Martin Gilbert, his decision to send the Fleet to its War Stations before the outbreak of war was widely praised.