Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook [DELUXE SIGNED EDITION]

[Cecil Beaton]


'On the shelves at Ashcombe, I have now over fifty diaries & scrapbooks, memorials of many violated magazines, repositories of museum picture postcards, theatrical programmes, letters, photographs & pictorial miscellanea which have accumulated since childhood. Christian Bérard suggested to me that a similar scrapbook might be distilled from my own work during the last five years; & that is what has been done.' (Preface).
 
The Scrapbook is Cecil Beaton's second book, published in 1937. Beaton's photographs and drawings, drawn from the author's numerous scrap albums, are collected together and accompanied by witty essays on subjects such as Christmas, Winter House Party, Mrs Simpson: 20th November 1936, Marlene Dietrich, Garbo, Hats, New York, Dubrovnik, The Russian Ballet and Coronation. A rare copy of the deluxe edition, limited to 150 copies, signed by Beaton with paraph, and bound in parchment vellum. The simplicity of the vellum is counterbalanced by the striking and bold floral gilt endpapers, with a pink lilac colourway to the front and white lilac colourway to the rear.


Cecil Beaton. B.T. Batsford Ltd. London. 1937. First edition, first printing. From the edition deluxe, in a vellum binding and limited to 150 copies and signed by the author. Hardback, quarto; full parchment vellum, gilt title to spine, top edge gilt, floral gilt endpapers, issued without dust jacket. 136 pages. Illustrated throughout with over 350 drawings, collotype photographs and coloured plates on varied paper stock; frontispiece and tailpiece by Christian Bérard. English. 290 x 235mm. 1.1kg. . Very good; slight spotting and soiling to parchment vellum, very slight bowing to boards, small knock to gilt edge, two small stains affecting top- and fore-edge of boards and very edge of final four leaves, slight spotting to prelims.