The Most Gorgeous Lady Blessington.
London: Downey & Co., 1896. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A splendid full crushed morocco binding by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and boards, dentelles and gilt top edges. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Extra-illustrated with 100 plates, including 20 in colour of which 11 are of Georgian furniture from Ackermann's Repository of Arts. Irish novelist and literary hostess, the remarkable Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington, became acquainted with Lord Byron in Genoa and was an intimate of Count D'Orsay with whom she remained very close for many years. Of rare beauty, charm and wit, her home was a centre of attraction for those distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion. Benjamin Disraeli wrote Venetia whilst staying there, and it was also there that Hans Christian Andersen first met Charles Dickens. Slight fading to the spine and with some scratching to the boards this is nonetheless a fine copy of an extraordinary tale.