Debrett's U and Non-U Revisited.
Buckle, Richard (editor); Beaton, Cecil; Brooks-Baker, H.B; Earl of Harewood; Howard, Philip; Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Bart; Montague-Smith, Patrick; Mitford, Diana; Ross, Alan S.C.; Sykes, Christopher.
Place Published: London:
Publisher: Debrett's Peerage Ltd,
Date Published: 1978.
Description: FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. Black & white illustrated. 116 pages. The book is FINE with very clean tight blue cloth boards. Not remaindered. The dust jacket is VERY GOOD with light color fading on the spine and minor wear on top spine end. The jacket is price clipped. JMVintage specializes in books, magazines, and treasures related to the Duke & Duchess of Windsor..and other curious subjects. Dust jacket notes read: "In 1956 a little book edited by the late Nancy Mitford and called Noblesse Oblige hit the world like a bombshell. Profiting from the researches of the philologist, Professor Alan C. Ross, who had coined the expressions 'U' and 'non-U' - that is 'Upper-class' and 'non-Upper-class' - she set about telling the man in the street just how common he was. Overnight, aristocrats who had spoken and behaved in a certain way from the cradle upwards found themselves giggling self-consciously when they offered each other 'a glass of sherry' as they had always done, instead of 'a sherry' as they were now told the vulgar did. At the same time, lower-middle-class people, who had always thought they were living graciously when they said 'Pardon?' instead of 'What?' or, on greeting a stranger, 'Pleased to meet you', learned that they were being 'genteel', which their betters considered the most ludicrous thing of all. In the present book, Professor Ross has brought his lists of U and non-U words, expressions and pronunciations up-to-date. He takes part in a discussion with Philip Howard, erudite contributor to The Times, and with Richard Buckle, a self-confessed ballet critic, an exhibition designer, and the author of Nijinsky and other books. Mr Buckle, who edits the present volume, also contributes a pitiless expose of 'his own blighted life. Diana Mitford (Lady Mosley), author of A Life of Contrasts, describes how her sister Nancy got into the U an non-U business by accident. Christopher Sykes, whose Four Studies in Loyalty and lives of Lady Astor and Evelyn Waugh have become classics in his lifetime, discusses men's clothes. Sir Cecil Beaton, photographer, stage designer, diarist and the greatest social success of our century, tells all. Patrick Montague-Smith, editor of Debrett's Peerage, shows how not all peers are aristocrats and not all aristocrats peers. The Earl of Harewood, Managing Director of the English National Opera, describes how it feels to be working-class. Sir lain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, an authority on heraldry, genealogy and Scottish clans - subjects in which only about fifty million people can conceivably be interested - was merely asked to contribute because he is the world's acknowledged master snob. Mr Timothy Jaques's so-called illustrations in fact serve a practical purpose, for they contain several portraits of living people, at least one of whom is wanted by the police. The curious discovery that all the writers of this book are related or genealogically connected, which not all of them knew when they started off, can no doubt be interpreted as a searing indictment of something or other. Three pedigrees included to show their cousinship disclose that they mostly have a common (in the sense of 'shared') Royal ancestor, though Lord Harewood is the only one who is the grandson of a King." Writers/contributors include: Sir Cecil Beaton, HB Brooks-Baker, Richard Buckle, Earl of Harewood, Philip Howard, Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Bart Patrick Montague-Smith (Editor, Debrett's Peerage), Lady Mosley (Diana Mitford), Alan S.C. Ross, Christopher Sykes.
Edition: First editionBinding: Cloth
Condition: Fine in Very Good dj
ISBN: 0905649176
Book Id: 19080
Price: $32.50
