The Book of Beauty (Cecil Beaton) (1930)

Cecil Beaton’s first collection of photographs, showcasing his concept of beauty through sketches and portraits. The book features actresses like Tallulah Bankhead and Anna May Wong, as well as literary figures such as Edith Sitwell and Nancy Cunard. Colour frontispiece. 27 photographic portrait plates. In-text illustrations. Cloth backed boards with gilt dot decoration. Condition: Boards a little scuffed and rubbed. Pasted onto the front endpaper are archival letter pages from The Athenaeum concerning the book and the controversy it sparked. The correspondence includes letters between Virginia Woolf, expressing her dissatisfaction with being featured in the book without her consent, and Beaton, defending his inclusion of her.