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DOUGLAS-HOME, JAMIE: : STATELY PASSIONS: The Scandals of Britain's Great Houses

LONDON.MICHAEL O'MARA BOOKS LIMITED,2006.

ISBN 1843171546.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price removal from dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,matt,b/w photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj with white lettering, similarly coloured lettered spine/backstrip,rear panel of dw/dj with montaged thumbnail b/w photographs of 3 of the 12 houses' property vistas and white lettering; with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners - no nicks,tears or splits present.Top edges with minimal minor and faint blemish,fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean, solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages; corner tips, would appear unread,other than my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, original plain black cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked silver gilt lettering to spine/ backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers. UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-272pp [paginated] includes acknowledgements and picture acknowledgements,author's Introduction,12 chapters each with a b/w photographic oval vignette as chapter headpiece,16pp of a mixture of contemporary b/w photographs and historical b/w+colour illustration reproductions in 2 blocks of 8pp apiece,between pp96/97 and pp176/77 respectively,Chapter Notes,a bibliography and Sources,and an Index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,and a contents list/table with blank verso. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of it's age.It really is an exceptional example for its cleanliness and brightness. An entertaining and informative study of thirteen of Britain's great stately homes and the scandals, predominately sexual,which the owners and their families have been involved in from the sixteenth century to the present day. It details some of the most notorious scandals to have engulfed the British royal family and aristocracy and captures not only the events and their era,but also the essence of some of the world's greatest and most beautiful private dwellings. From the Hampton Court of Henry VIII to the modern scandals that saw the present Lord Brocket jailed,'Stately Passions' gives centre stage to the British stately homes that have played witness to centuries of aristocratic indiscretion.Whether examining the 'Profumo Affair',the call girl scandal at Cliveden,the home of Viscount Astor,that eventually brought down a government,or the affairs of the lesbian Vita Sackville-West and her bisexual husband, Harold Nicolson,at Sissinghurst Castle,or considering the goings on at Fort Belvedere,the Surrey bolthole where the Prince of Wales,later King Edward VIII,conducted his affair with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson that eventually led to his abdication, 'Stately Passions' provides a fascinating insight into the lives, loves and morals,dubious though they may be,of some notorious denizens of the aristocratic world. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - 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. ** 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 US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

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

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