My Bolivian Aunt [SIGNED]

Cecil Beaton.

Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. September 1971. First edition, third impression. Printed one month after the first and second impressions. Signed by Beaton in ink to the front free-endpaper - 'With Best Wishes Cecil Beaton'. Hardback, octavo; dark-pink cloth-bound boards, dust jacket. 171 pages. 16 hors-texte plates with photographs. English. 225 x 135mm. 0.4kg. 9780297004424. Very good, in good dust jacket; light wear and ruffling to top edge of jacket, small stain to lower edge of rear panel, not price-clipped; some fading and toning to top and lower edges of front board; alongside Beaton's signature, a postcard with a Christmas gift message and signature pasted onto front free endpaper.

A characteristically witty family memoir from Beaton. The "Bolivian Aunt" of the title was Beaton's Aunt Jessie, a beauty who married "a rich, moustachioed Bolivian" and lived a life of drama in South America. Jessie's style, fashion, flair and theatricality captivated Beaton. His own family paled against her colourful, exotic personality. Jessie crops up frequently in his autobiographical writings and a chapter is dedicated to her in The Glass of Fashion. Her style also inspired many of his Edwardian-era costume and set designs, including those for My Fair Lady. Signed by Beaton.