Villette

[Frontispiece] xxxvii, pp 1-594, [6] adverts. An inscribed copy of Charlotte Bronte\'s Villette, given by Mrs Humphry Ward to the future Clementine Churchill. Mary Ward has inscribed the front endpaper \'To Clementine Hozier with best wishes, from the writer of the Introduction. New Years\' Day. 1902.\' The young Clementine Hozier came from the generation below her novelist friend but they moved in similar London high society circles where they became acquainted. The New Years Day dateline may suggest that the book was given during a visit. Two years after this inscription Miss Hozier would meet Winston Churchill, marrying him four years after that. Despite her change in circumstances she retained this book after her marriage and at some stage it passed into the collection of her youngest daughter Mary Spencer Churchill (Baroness Soames) before being acquired by Modernfirsteditions. The inscribed page is slightly loose; the book shows some wear and is in Good condition.