1927: The Good-Natured Chronicle of a Journey (Inscribed. Numbered, Limited, First Edition. #228 of 310 Copies Printed.)
Asheville, NC: The Captain's Bookshelf, 1995. Anthony Lord (Photographs & Artwork). First Edition. Hardcover. Numbered, limited edition, this copy is #228/310, noted at the back. Inscribed "For Min and Rob, who also travel the world, with best wishes, Elizabeth Kostova" on the flytitle page, and signed again by Elizabeth on the title page. This exhilarating story and beautiful artwork recounts the extensive adventures of the late artist Anthony Lord across Europe and North Africa just after he graduated from Yale University in 1927. Masterfully told with the help of niece Elizabeth Kostova, Lord made his home in Asheville, North Carolina, where this book was published.
EXCERPTS FROM THE INTRODUCTION: "In the spring of 1928, Anthony Lord of Asheville, North Carolina brought home from Europe more than seventy sketches in watercolor, ink, pencil, and gouache, hundreds of photographs in the form of negatives developed in small towns along the way, and stacks of memorabilia. Despite all this, he frequently expressed his regret that he hadn't kept a travel journal. In reality he had; it simply never reached paper, before now. This trip was one of the formative experiences of his life. He carried home from his first travels an astounding range of observations, which were still vivid when he shared them with me [Elizabeth] sixty-five years later. [...]
This account started as an oral history and has never strayed far from that original form. It began as twenty-three hours of recorded interviews, taped in 1992 and 1993 in Anthony Lord's cool, dim living room, the heart of the house his father built in the year he was born. This interview process and other aspects of the book's creation are recorded in the contemporary passages scattered throughout. [...]
It will be clear to the reader that much of the language of the book's main narrative was lifted verbatim from Lord's reminiscences. However, his wonderful laugh and the hoots, sighs, and soft murmurs of remembered appreciation with which he accompanied his stories are impossible to reproduce on paper. If a fraction of this fine storyteller's voice comes through in these pages as it did on tape -- or, best of all, in person -- our project is a success. Lord's sketches, in watercolor and in words, project a 1927 as fresh as a new photograph. This is his book."
DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION: Beautifully bound in bright red woven cloth, covers are plain with gilt lettering on the spine. Endpapers are a map of "The Good Natured Journey 1927-1928" in black, gray and red. Red and black title page. Profusely illustrated with crisp and bold images in black and white, as well as striking tipped in artwork in full color by artist Anthony Lord. Contents include: Full Page Illustrations, Introduction, France I, England, France II, Italy, Northern Africa, and About the Authors. xxv, 193 pp. Dust jacket is illustrated in black and white against a taupe background with red and black lettering.
Both this book and dust jacket are in stunning, fine condition. A gorgeous copy. Full refund if not satisfied. Fine / Fine.
Quarto: 12.25" tall x 9.25" wide x 1.25" thick.
Item #079344
Price: $240.00 save 50% $120.00