Churchill, Sir Winston

thanking him for a copy of his Selected Poems, "which will have an honoured place in my library", and adding that "the fine couplet from your Coronation Ode on the ‘High Cabal’ … was constantly on Lord Fisher’s lips" during the early days of World War I, 2 pages, 8vo, headed stationery of Treasury Chambers, Whitehall, 21 June 1928, with autograph envelope

Sotheby’s, 14 March 1979, lot 460 ("Property of M.H. Freeman")

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Sir William Watson (1858-1935) was a tremendously popular poet from the 1890s to the 1910s. The couplet that stirred Jackie Fisher, the First Sea Lord, was part of an extended panegyric on British history and character at the Edwardian height of Empire:

“Time, and the ocean, and some fostering star,
In high cabal have made us what we are” (William Watson, ‘Ode on the Day of the Coronation of King Edward VII’, ll.8-9)