London Bookseller Holds Churchill Cartoon Contest

With two Oscar-nominated films, Dunkirk and The Darkest Hour, plus a third, Churchill, hoisting Winston Churchill into the spotlight of late, bookseller Maggs Bros. of London has taken the opportunity to share in the excitement with a little contest. Take a look at this original pen and ink cartoon of Churchill by "Pooh" illustrator E. H. Shepard, drawn for Punch magazine in 1947 and titled "Leonardo da Winny." The former PM and amateur painter is depicted in his studio, at work on a canvas (deliberately painted upside-down) featuring his successor, Clement Attlee. But what is Attlee doing with his left hand? (See detail below.) It's anybody's guess, and Maggs is offering a "small reward" for the correct answer. (Contact here.) The drawing itself is for sale at £12,500.

Churchill collectors might also be interested to know about another Maggs offering: a complete six-volume set of first editions of his book, The World Crisis, which were initially gifted to Maurice Hankey, a senior civil servant in Churchill's war administration. Each volume except the first is personally inscribed, and one contains a handwritten letter from Churchill, noting the gift for Hankey's library. Of Hankey, Churchill had written in The World Crisis: "He knew everything; he could put his hand on anything; he knew everybody; he said nothing; he gained the confidence of all." The set is priced at £50,000.   

Images courtesy of Maggs Bros.