Collection of 21 Books Owned by Fashion Designer Elsa Schiaparelli by SCHIAPARELLI, Elsa - 1971

1971. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. A group of books from the personal collection of Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1974) one of the world's premiere fashion designers during the '20s and '30s, whose popularity once rivaled Coco Chanel. All of the books have her distinctive ownership Signature except one which is Inscribed by the author, Ludwig Bemelmans.

Schiaparelli interest in books was likely fostered by her father, a renowned Italian scholar and dean of The University of Rome. Over her career she pioneered numerous now-iconic fashion staples such as the divided skirt, first worn by tennis player Lilí de Álvarez at Wimbledon in 1931; trompe-l'oeil detailing in knitwear; the recasting of fasteners such as zippers, buttons, and hooks as featured fashion elements; the early adoption of synthetic materials such as rayon, acrylic, and cellophane into high fashion; and her incorporation of playful, surrealist design into fashion through collaboration with friends Jean Cocteau, Leonor Fini, and Salvador Dali, with whom she created the Lobster Dress made famous by Wallis Simpson.

A compelling collection of books once owned by a fashion icon.

ACTON, Harold. The Bourbons of Naples (1734-1825) [Volume I]. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd (1956). First edition. Bumped at the spine ends near fine in fair dustwrapper with erosion at the spines ends along with numerous creases, nicks and tears. The first volume of this two-volume set.

BEMELMANS, Ludwig. [How to Travel] Incognito. [Paris]: Le Club Francais du Livre 1957.First French edition. Translation by Jean Rosenthal. Preface by Marcel Achard. Yellow linen-weave cloth covered boards with illustration stamped in black and white. Soiling to the boards, some bumping and slightly cocked, very good, without a dustwrapper as issued. Inscribed by Bemelmans: "To Elsa with love Ludwig."

CAPOTE, Truman. A Tree of Night and Other Stories. New York: Random House (1949). First edition. Near fine with bumping to two corners and nick at the crown in very good dustwrapper with chip at the crown along with a tear and general rubbing to the soft paper jacket that is particularly susceptible to wear. Capote's second book, and first collection of stories.

CRONIN, A.J. The Spanish Gardener. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd 1950.First edition. Bookseller ticket on the rear pastedown and wear at the corners near fine in very good dustwrapper with small chips and tears at the edge, touch of darkening to the spine, and splitting along the spine folds.

DURRELL, Gerald. Fillets of Plaice. London: St. James' Place (1971). First edition. Fine with tiny Paris bookseller's ticket on the front pastedown in near fine price-clipped dustwrapper a touch bumped at the spine ends with edge wear.

GARNETT, David. A Net For Venus. (London): Longmans, Green & Co. (1959).First edition. Fine with English bookseller's ticket on the front pastedown in very good or better dustwrapper with shallows chips at the spine ends and scattered tiny nicks and tears at the perimeter.

HUXLEY, Aldous. Adonis & the Alphabet. London: Chatto & Windus (1956). Second impression. Fine in about near fine toned dustwrapper, with a short tear and wear to the topedge.

HUXLEY, Aldous. After Many a Summer. London: Chatto and Windus 1939.First edition. A touch cocked with some sunning to the spine and the bottom edge of the front board, very good. A *Burgess 99* title.

HUXLEY, Aldous. Grey Eminence. New York: Harper 1941. First American edition. Very good with wear at the edges and some loss at the crown. A biography of Father Joseph of Paris, Cardinal Richelieu's right-hand man.

MALAPARTE, Curzio. Kaputt. Paris: Denoël Editions 1946.First French edition. Translated from the Italian by Juliette Bertrand. Fair only with toned pages and detached and chipped wrappers

MONSARRAT, Nicholas. The White Rajah. New York: William Sloane Associates (1961). First edition. Fine in very good plus dustwrapper with a touch of loss at the spine ends and wear at the extremities, nicks and tears.

NABOKOV, Vladimir. The Defence. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1964).First English edition. Fine with gilt bright in very good dustwrapper rubbed, toned and with scattered creases and nicks.

NABOKOV, Vladimir. Pnin. London: Heinemann (1957).
First English edition. Fine with Paris bookseller's ticket on front pastedown in good dustwrapper with a few small chips, few scattered tears and creasing to both flaps (with publisher's pasted on blurb for Lolita affixed to the rear flap).

PAINTER, George D. Marcel Proust: A Biography. London: Chatto & Windus (1965).Two volumes. Fourth and third impressions. Overall near fine in very good rubbed dustwrappers with a few perimeter tears and nicks. Each volume with an ownership signature.

PASTERNAK, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. London: Collins and Harvill Press (1958). Second impression. Near fine with light scrape on the spine and spot on the rear pastedown in very good dustwrapper with several chips to the spine, wear at the corners and some general soiling.

POPE-HENNESSY, James. Verandah: Some Episodes in the Crown Colonies 1867-1889. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd (1964).First edition. Very good with some dampstaining to the rear board and inside pastedown.

STEINBECK, John. The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication. London: Heinemann (1957). First English edition. A touch cocked else fine in very good dustwrapper that is a bit toned and with several green spots on the front.

SYKES, Christopher. Four Studies in Loyalty. London: Collins (1947).Second impression. Fine in very good dustwrapper toned and with tiny nicks and tears at the perimeter.

TAGORE, Rabindranath. The Gardener. London: MacMillian and Co. 1913. First edition. Blue cloth boards with gilt. Very good with sunning to the spine and fraying at the crown.

WEST, Morris. Daughter of Silence. London: Heinemann 1961.Reprint. Fine in near fine dustwrapper sunned along the spine, with light wear at the spine ends and a bit rubbed.

WOUK, Herman. Youngblood Hawke. New York: Doubleday & Company 1962. First edition. Near fine with a bit of wear at the edges in a good only rubbed dustwrapper with tears, chips and creases.