1930 The Gentleman in the Parlour a Record of a Journey From Rangoon to Haiphong

Description

First Edition, Leather Binding

The first edition, first impression, of this work.

A wonderful travel work describing the author's travel through Burma, Siam, Cambodia, and Vietnam with his then-lover, Gerald Haxton.

By W. Somerset Maugham, one of the most renowned authors of the twentieth century, reportedly being the highest paid author of the 1930s. 

From the library of Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie at Julians Park, with her beautiful bookplate to the front paste down. Bound by herself. After being widowed at 25, Audrey married the fabulously wealthy American department store heir, Marshall Field III, later divorcing him and marrying the Honorable Peter Pleydell-Bouverie. In 1940 she bought Julians Park and redesigned the interior. Her library was impressive, with many examples of her own bookbinding, including this volume.

Audrey was an extravagant socialite and renowned beauty, the illegitimate granddaughter of King Edward VII (though she was also rumoured to be his daughter, or the lover of King Edward VIII), featured in the 'Book of Beauty' by Cecil Beaton. She had many high profile friends, such as Winston Churchill, Coco Chanel, Fred Astaire, and Nancy Mitford, a sparkling hostess of the Edwardian period, her hedonistic antics bringing her into the Bright Young Things.