Turn of the World

Philadelphia/New York: J.B. Lippincott Company. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. 1937. First Edition. Hardcover. [a good sound copy with minor shelfwear, some light water-spotting on top edge of text block (no effect on internals), light age-toning to fore-edge; the jacket is moderately edgeworn, with some shallow paper loss at the top of the spine, some tanning/soiling to the rear panel, one-inch split at bottom front flapfold]. (duotone photographs) The second of two autobiographical books by this Philadelphia-born socialite, who was related to both the J.P. Morgan and Drexel families (her maiden name was Drexel). "Told from the inside, these reminiscences reveal the glamorous story of American society during the gay nineties, in the amazing early years of the twentieth century, through the World War, and finally, to the brilliant pageantry of the Coronation of King George VI, which Lady Decies attended as a peeress." She had reached these exalted heights the year before this book was published, via her third marriage to The 5th Baron Decies (who tried unsuccessfully to divorce her in 1942, but to whom she was still married when he died in January 1944). She was "an intimate friend of society's 'big four' -- Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs and Mrs. Oliver Belmont -- [and here] writes the story of the socially elite with extraordinary frankness, [writing] not only of the people whose names were always ones to conjure with, but also of society's hangers-on -- 'those who have learned to live on nothing a year,' the 'spongers,' the 'climbers.'" This frankness had also been a hallmark of her earlier book, which was primarily about her unhappy "tragic farce" of a second marriage, to Henry Lehr, and created a bit of scandal. (Time magazine described it was "one of the most startling and scandalously intimate records of life among the wealthy yet written by one of them.") The tone of the present volume seems rather mellower; one contemporary reviewer found it "interesting, amusing and sometimes revolting, as with evident nostalgia she tells of extravagant parties and fortunes spent for clothes and jewels." ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this somewhat heavy tome; if this concerns you, please contact us for a shipping quote before placing your order. As always at ReadInk, domestic Media Mail shipping is free.**** .