Maurois, Andre (Disraeli, Benjamin)

Disraeli: A Picture of the Victorian Age

Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1990. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. “Disraeli’s life is enchanting as few ever are, or perhaps can be in politics. It begins in ruin and ends in triumph. It was so many lives! He was a novelist of the first rank. A wit. (He would say of his beloved, older, and not coincidentally wealthy wife that ‘she can never remember which came first, the Greeks or the Romans.’) An aphorist. If you, kind reader, have ever declared yourself to ‘be on the side of the angels,’ you are quoting Dizzy. IF ever, being in need of preferment or hopeful of notice you have laid only flattery ‘with a trowel,’ you are simply following the Prime Minister’s punctilious example.” (Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, from foreword) This “Collector’s Edition” of Andre Maurois’ (1885 – 1967) biography of British politician and author Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881) is aptly begun with a foreword by Sen. Moynihan, a political successor, in a sense, to Disraeli’s “one-nation conservatism.” Eventually raised to the Earl of Beaconsfield, Disraeli was twice the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was instrumental in British control of the Suez Canal and a key figure in other major events of the time. An avid writer, Disraeli authored a number of novels and shorter tales. Maurois, born in France to a Jewish textile worker (Disraeli was the only British Prime Minister born Jewish), had extensive contacts with the British during both world wars: in World War I he served as interpreter for Winston Churchill and as a liaison officer with the British Army; in World War II he was the French Official Observer with the British headquarters, while also serving in the French Army and Free French Forces. It is no surprise then that many of the dozens of books he authored dealt with prominent British figures. La vie de Disraëli was originally published in 1927 by Éditions Gallimard. This new premium edition is bound in leather, with gilt edges, gilt decorations on covers & spine, & attached silken bookmark-ribbon. An exemplary & scarce Easton Press production. Hardcover. First Edition Thus. In Fine-Very Fine condition with light rubbing & scratching to front, back covers & spine; some minor cracking to leather at right edge of front. Interior Very Fine with no noticeable defects. Nameplate states the book was previously owned by Dr. Stephen C. Zambito, presumably the late, longtime professor of education at Eastern Michigan University. Fine-Very Fine. [Item #8535]

Price: $250.00