Cecil Beaton at Home An Interior Life. by GINGER, ANDREW:

Hardcover. very good/0847848779 . Colour and black and white illus., index; 368pp. folio (310 x 265) red cloth, A private view of the genius of Cecil Beaton, reflected through the lens of his town and country idylls, and his passion for interior design, gardening, and entertaining a circle of Bright Young Things. Cecil Beaton (1904Š1980) was one of twentieth-century BritainÕs Renaissance men: photographer, costume designer, set designer, playwright, creator of fashion fabrics, and writer on raffinˇ interiors and the personalities who inhabited them. He also happened to be a fine interior decorator. Cecil Beaton at Home focuses on two homes dear to BeatonÕs heartŃAshcombe House, near the Wiltshire village of Tollard Royal, and Reddish House, located in Broad Chalke, another village in the same countyŃas well as London's Pelham Place and BeatonÕs New York hotel suites. Simultaneously a retreat, an inspiration, a photographerÕs studio, and a stage for impressive entertaining, BeatonÕs country homes also fueled his passion for art, gardening, and delight in village life. Against his often-extravagant interiors, BeatonÕs private life unfoldsŃhis unique talent for self-promotion, desire for theatricality, and uncertain pursuit of love. This lavishly illustrated visual biography brings together original photographs, artworks, and possessions from his interiors to present an intimate picture of BeatonÕs extraordinary life. Dust Jacket Included