Fashion. An Anthology by Cecil Beaton

[Cecil Beaton]


In October 1971 the exhibition Fashion. An Anthology by Cecil Beaton opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.Several months earlier Beaton had proposed to the V&A’s director John Pope-Hennessy that he would form, on behalf of the museum, ‘a collection of those dresses that he most admired.’ Beaton spent many hours persuading friends, acquaintances and designers to donate clothes that represented the best of twentieth-century couture. The resulting show set a new standard for fashion exhibitions and led to a substantial enlargement of the museum’s fashion collection.  The accompanying catalogue features an introduction and photographs by Beaton.


Cecil Beaton. Catalogue compiled by Madeleine Ginsburg. Foreword by John Pope-Hennessy. Victoria and Albert Museum. London. 1971. First edition, first impression. Paperback, small quarto; illustrated wrappers; 'Errata and Addenda' leaf loosely inserted. 78 pages. Illustrated throughout with colour frontispiece, b&w photographs and line drawings. English. 245 x 185mm. 0.3kg. 9780901486400. Good; light soiling to wrappers, slight toning to edges, previous owner's inscription to first leaf.