Grand Hotel: The Golden Age of Palace Hotels An Architectural and Social History.
Watkin, David; Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh; D'Ormesson, Jean; Remy, Pierre-Jean; Grendel, Frederic; Walter, Marc.
Place Published: New York, N.Y.:
Publisher: The Vendome Press,
Date Published: 1984.
Description: Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. The book has 272 pages with many black and white and color photos. The book is in VERY GOOD condition with previous owners inditia stamp to ffep, wear to first three pages, small closed tear to copyright page bottom edge. The jacket is in VERY GOOD condition with minor shelfwear, small closed tear to back upper edge, price-clipped. THIS IS A LARGE, HEAVY BOOK AND MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL POSTAGE. JMVINTAGE specializes in Books, Magazines and Treasures related to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and other curious subjects. The dust jacket reads: "Before the political and industrial revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, palaces were royal dwellings. By 1850, 'palace' was a synonym for the grand hotels where the new and fabulously wealthy bourgeoisie could enjoy life on a scale from which they had previously been excluded. The technology of the industrial revolution permitted miracles in construction, high lobbies with brilliant painted glass panels hanging from steel ribbing, floating staircases for grand entrances by jewel encrusted courtesans, and imitation Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture by the truckload. With electricity came central cooling and heating, giant crystal chandeliers, and marble bathrooms in every suite. Staffed by armies of servants, led by such men of genius as Cesar Ritz and Escoffier, the palaces became centers of a brilliant social life with banquets, balls, flirtations and seductions, gambling, even the occasional murder from behind a potted palm. And when urban pressures became too great, the new group of pleasure-seekers found repose in other grand hotels in Europe's fabled mountain, lake and sea resorts. In a hundred year span - 1830 to 1930a style was created both in the United States and Europe that is encapsulated in this beautifully illustrated book which was assembled by a team of experts in Paris over a period of several years. Here is an astonishing collection of 470 photographs, of which 236 are in color, depicting all the grandest hotels of Europe, many of which are still with us. This book is not the usual guide to comfortable places to stay; for the first time ever, the subject of the grand hotel is treated in a systematic and thematic fashion. A way of life is discussed as architecture, as a social and sociological phenomenon, and as an ever developing commercial enterprise. Old photographs of which 236 are in color, depicting all the grandest hotels of Europe, many of which are still with us. A way of life is discussed as architecture, as a social and sociological phenomenon, and as an ever developing commercial enterprise Old photographs create an exquisite nostalgia that we can still enjoy in a score of hotels scattered around the most beautiful sites in the world. In an age of standardized Hiltons, Intercontinentals and Holiday Inns, the sophisticated traveller can still revel in the Ritzes, Bristols and Imperials described here. A carefully chosen group of international travel writers have analysed the many facets of life in a grand hotel, extensive captions accompany every photograph, and a short resume of every hotel will prove to be an invaluable guide to the traveller. Enter the world of grooms, lackeys, starched chamber maids and knickered valets, relive the splendor of the Belle Epoque in ballroom s filled with beautiful women and powerful men in a book will delight travelers, architects, decorators, social historians, and everybody fascinated with the grand life past and present. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction; THE GRAND HOTEL STYLE by David Watkin; A HOMAGE TO CESAR RITZ by Hugh Montgomery-Massingbred; THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS by Frederic Grendel; POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE by Pierre-Jean Remy; INDEX (Featured hotel listing).
Edition: First editionBinding: Hard Cover
Condition: Very Good in Very Good dj
ISBN: 0865650403
Book Id: 8604
Price: $39.50
