High price expected for Churchill letter to Perth author

A letter from Winston Churchill to Perth-born author John Buchan is set to fetch up to £7000 at auction.

Churchill wrote the letter of condolence on April 24, 1917, following the death of Buchan’s brother in the first world war.

Churchill was a Dundee MP at the time, having won the seat at a by-election on May 8, 1908.

In July 1917, just a few weeks after writing to Buchan author of The Thirty-Nine Steps he became minister of munitions.

The letter is expected to sell for between £5000 and £7000 when it is auctioned at Christie’s in London on June 2.

It is among 144 Churchill treasures letters, signed photographs, rare books and even one of Churchill’s trademark Havana cigars likely to sell for around £1m.

Churchill was a Dundee MP until 1922.

His regular absences on cabinet business plus bitterness caused by the first world war strained the relationship.

In 1943, when prime minister, Churchill was offered the Freedom of Dundee but turned it down.