ERMYNTRUDE AND ESMERALDA AN ENTERTAINMENT

Erté [pseud. Roman Petrovich Tyrtov].. Salmon cloth, stamped in gilt. 48pp. Seventeen two-color illustrations by Erté, who also designed the jacket. Facetious inscription on front flyleaf, "1982 / To Esmeralda / with love, / Ermyntrude. / (forever)." There is also a gift note enclosed, "To Michael / Merry Christmas ? Fritz," which was to Michael Holroyd, who wrote the introduction. About fine, in a very good dust jacket with a rub at the spine.

First edition. Anthony Blond, Ltd., [London: 1969]. Lytton Strachey's posthumously published entertainment, written for the private relish of his circle, is reported to have reduced the Bloomsbury set to heaps of giggles. Esmeralda is the country girl and Ermyntrude lives in London. Two Edwardian teenagers, who resolve to discover for themselves the forbidden mysteries of life and sex, believe they devise a code in their correspondence for male and female body parts -- bow-wows and pussies -- and while the country girl investigates among deans, generals, tutors, etc., the city girl looks closer to home with Henry the handsome footman. Esmeralda does experience some confusion about whether her brother, Godfrey, and his tutor Mr. Mapleton could be in love as it does not seem that they would be able to have babies.