[MAURICHEAU-BEAUPRÉ, Charles; CUNARD, Nancy (translates?)]

[Guide Book] [Louis XIV] A Day in Versailles. Illustrated Guidebook of The Museum, The Park, The Chateau, The Trianons.

Paris: Braun & Co., 1950. First Impression. Stiff Wrappers. First English language edition of this Cunard curiosity, as she purportedly translated this guide book. Foolscap 8vo: 64pp, with 32 full-page illustrations from photographs and 8 plans. Original greyish-beige perfect-bound wrappers printed in green and reddish-brown. A Very Fine copy, virtually pristine. Fine. Item #BB2266

There is no credit to Cunard within the book's pages, and the Bibliotheque National de France attributes the translation to "Miss Erlich," without a clue to her identity or providing a basis for the attribution. Evidence for Nancy Cunard's responsibility for the translation comes from a copy owned by a London bookseller that once belonged to Cunard and was inscribed by her on the title page ("Translation from the French Edition by Nancy Cunard Feb 1950)." Cunard (1896-1965), of course, was the British upper class poet, heiress, and political activist, who became muse to some of the twentieth century's most distinguished writers and artists, including Wyndham Lewis, Aldous Huxley, Tristan Tzara, Ezra Pound and Louis Aragon—who were among her lovers—as well as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Constantin Brâncu i, Langston Hughes, Man Ray, and William Carlos Williams. In 1920, Cunard moved to Paris, and seven years later to a farmhouse in La Chapelle-Réanville, Normandy, where she set up the Hours Press. After the Second World War, she returned to England, and in later years she suffered from mental illness and poor physical health, worsened by alcoholism and poverty. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $124.00