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MacCARTHY, FIONA: : LAST CURTSEY - The End of the Debutantes

LONDON.FABER & FABER,2006.

ISBN 0571228593.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj, 1st edn.[Complete number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip - almost as new. Bright,crisp,clean,matt colour-tinted sepia photographic illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges - no nicks or tears present.Head of spine/backstrip minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing. Bright,unblemished,pale cream paper-covered boards with bright,crisp,blocked purple gilt letters to spine/backstrip,and immaculate sepia photographic illustrated endpapers.Top+fore- edges bright,clean and unmarked; contents bright,tight and pristine - an unread copy? UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vii-xiipp+1-305pp [paginated] includes half-title+title pages, contents+illus lists/tables,a preface,10 chapters,an epilogue,99 contemporary b/w photographs,a select bibliography,sources, picture acknowledgements,acknowledgements and an index. Fiona MacCarthy and her fellow 'debs' were taking part in one of the final rituals of aristocratic power.The system had been in operation almost unchanged since the 18thC.It was a female rite of passage,an elaborate initiation ceremony marking the emergence of the virgin out of the schoolroom and into society at the marriageable age of seventeen.But that year, in 1958,it was drawing to a close. Under pressure to shine - not least from their mothers - the girls were somewhere between teenagers and clones of the Queen herself.The focus for newspaper diarists and society photographers,these young women participated in a party season stretching for months among the great houses of England,Ireland and Scotland.Yet behind all the grandeur lay anxiety and making-do,as many families struggled to maintain the splendour of former times. Fiona MacCarthy traces the stories of the girls who curtseyed that year,and shows how their lives were to open out in often very unexpected ways - as Britain itself changed irreversibly during the 1960's,and the certainties of the old order came to an end.Sharp,witty and beautifully observed,'Last Curtsey' is a triumph both as memoir and as social history. Author has written several acclaimed biographies,Eric Gill,William Morris and Byron. Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** This item offered P+p included.Offer available UK only,unless indicated otherwise. ** ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. q52.BIOGRAPHY.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.ISBN 0571228593.Debutantes_social History.Debutantes_ presentation party_Buckingham Palace_EIIR.Upper class_socialite girls_the Season_1958.Anglo-Irish Gentry.Chelsea_London_Chelsea Set.Debs_ cocktail parties_house parties_London Dances. Henley Royal Regatta.The London Season.Poor Little Rich Girl.Debs dances_luncheon parties_ tea Parties.Debs_Hunts_Hunt Balls.Books new, used,signed,rare.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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