Liberalism and the Social Problem.

London: Hodder and Stoughton,, 1909. Owned by "one of the most powerful Liberal voices of Edwardian Britain" First edition, first impression, "presentation copy" stamp to title page, presumably sent to the editor of the Economist Francis Wrigley Hirst (1873-1953), with his pencilled ownership signature to the front free endpaper and title page. The book collects the speeches by the young Churchill during his Liberal phase, addressing such then-pressing issues as the conciliation of South Africa, imperial preference, labour exchanges, and unemployment insurance. Appropriately, the recipient was a prominent liberal, "whose stalwart advocacy of personal freedom, free trade, and peace during the first half of the twentieth century, and especially during the First World War and its aftermath, surely earns him an honored place in the pantheon of individual liberty" (Foundation of Economic Freedom website, accessible online). Appointed editor of the Economist in 1907, Hirst built up the newspaper's circulation to match its 19th-cenury heyday under Walter Bagehot, and consequently became "one of the most powerful Liberal voices of Edwardian Britain, dogmatically arguing that permanent progress depended on free trade, retrenchment, and peace" (ODNB). Octavo. Original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt, facsimile of author's signature to the front cover in gilt, bottom edge untrimmed. Pencilled signature of F. W. Hirst to front free endpaper and title page, pencilled annotations to contents. Slight darkening and rubbing to spine, Cohen A29.1.a; Woods A15.