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CHURCHILL, WINSTON. (1874-1965). English statesman, author and prime minister from 1940-45 and 1951-55. SP. (“W. S. Churchill”). 1p. 4to. N.p., N.d. A black-and-white photograph of Churchill with his wife Clementine, and American businessman and statesman BERNARD M. BARUCH (1870-1965), who has also signed. (“B. M. Baruch”). Our candid photograph, taken in an unidentified building lobby, captures Churchill in profile, smiling with his signature cigar in his mouth, and a likewise bemused Baruch wearing a hearing aid (which looks like an iPod Touch!). Starting out as a Wall Street errand boy, Baruch became a financial success, buying a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and accumulating a fortune by the age of 30. Despite his commercial prowess, his true calling was as a public servant. After President Woodrow Wilson sought his advice on economic and industrial policies, he was appointed to the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense. His role in 20^th-century U.S. and international affairs is difficult to overstate. Baruch chaired the War Industries Board and was instrumental in negotiating the economic issues of the Treaty of Versailles. It was at Versailles that he first met Churchill, with whom he maintained a warm friendship. During his visits to Baruch’s home in New York City and estate in South Carolina, Churchill sought Baruch’s advice on financial matters ranging from the former’s personal losses in the stock market during the depression to England’s postwar recovery. Churchill was elected prime minister in 1940 and is revered for his leadership during the London Blitz (during which time Baruch repeatedly offered to take Churchill’s grandchildren into his home) and World War II. Baruch continued to act as a close and valued advisor to several democratic and republican administrations and was the United States’ delegate to the UN Atomic Energy Commission. “He was hard to argue with since, as [Nobel Prize-winning physicist] Hans [Bethe] says, ‘he was even more hard of hearing that I,’ and he would, during an unpleasant discussion, just turn off his hearing aid,” (Hans Bethe and His Physics, Brown and Lee). A nice image of two of the 20^th century’s most influential persons. The surface of the photograph is crazed with some minor loss to the image along its very top edge, not affecting the signatures. Mounted on a stiff board and in good condition.

Price: $6,000