The Loved and Envied

[Cecil Beaton. Enid Bagnold]


The protagonist of Enid Bagnold's novel is the fifty-three year old Lady Maclean, said to be based on Lady Diana Cooper. Lady Maclean is 'loved and envied' from a distance. Born at the turn of the century, she and her peers are now entering a second stage of life, when youthful adventures are behind them. The action takes place in London, Jamaica, Scotland and Paris. The final location in Pouilly Forest, mirrors Duff and Diana Cooper's residence in Chantilly. Beaton was a close confidante of both Diana Cooper and Enid Bagnold. He provides the dust jacket illustration for The Loved and Envied, depicting an elegant lady in a theatre box, admired from a distance.


Enid Bagnold. With a dust jacket design by Cecil Beaton. William Heinemann Ltd. London. 1951. First edition. Hardback, octavo; black cloth-bound boards, yellow top edge, dust jacket. 328 pages. English. 190 x 130mm. 0.4kg. . Very good, in very good dust jacket; slight wear to jacket, small nick to rear lower edge, some wear to forecorners and spine ends, slight soiling to rear panel, slight toning to spine, not price-clipped; no inscriptions.