Sotheby's. Bidding for Class

London England: Little, Brown & Company, 1998. Hardback. First Edition. Sotheby's. Bidding For Class. Waterstain mark to inside bottom edge of D/J. Repair to top corners of D/J. A temple to civilised style, the art auction house Sotheby's makes its money when it manages to persuade those who already have a wealth of material goods that their happiness depends upon owning still more. Collectors pay unimaginable sums. whether for a Picassor or Jackie O's shimmering trinkets, because, ultimately, they are in search of something beyond mere objects. They are bidding for class. In this stimulating and entertaining book, the author brings to life the personalities, ambition and shrewd business dealing operating behind the glamour and glitz of Sotheby's. He report from within on such recent events as the auction of the personal property of Jackie Kennedy Onassis in 1996 and Mohammed Al Fayed's sale of the goods of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in February 1998, and traces the history of the long and often bitter rivalry with Sotheby's only significant competitor, Christie's. Lacey shows how top executives from the two houses compete in the wooing of wealthy widows and estate lawyers as they attempt to grab the rights to the few artistic masterpieces left in private hands, and to uncover new categories of 'collectibles' with which to tempt the appetite of a relentlessly consumerist world. In this book, Robert Lacey has not only written a completely absorbing account of life inside the world's oldest and richest auction house: as readers of his previous books have come to expect, he also delivers brilliant and startling insights into the forces that shape our social elite. Illustrated. 354 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions ,and all types of Academic Literature.). First Edition. Cloth. Very Good/Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall Octavo. Hardback.