Fetes Memorables. Bals Costumes 1922-1972

Prince Jean-Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge.

Editions Herscher. Paris. 1986. First edition. French language edition. Hardback, 4to; black cloth-bound boards, dust jacket. 126 pages. Over 180 illustrations in colour and b&w. French. 355 x 275mm. 1.5kg. 9782733501191. Fine, in near fine dust jacket; light wear to top edge of jacket, short 1cm tear at head of spine; a well-preserved copy.

A classic book documenting the legendary parties held in Europe during the middle half of the twentieth century. These masked balls gathered together the elite of society and are still being talked about today. Faucigny-Lucinge guides us through a selection of the grandest parties with the aid of many never-before-published photographs taken by the likes of Man Ray, Horst , Hoyningen-Huene and Beaton. The parties include the Louis XIV ball, the Proust Ball, the White Ball, the Oriental Ball and the Surrealist Ball. The hosts include Etienne and Edith de Beaumont, Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, Carlos de Beistegui, Baron Alexis de Rede, the Rothschilds and the author himself. The hosts and attendees employed the creative talents of the great artists of the time, amongst them Picasso, Berard, Cocteau, Chanel, Poiret, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Balanchine and Lifar.