MACCARTHY, Desmond, & Bryan GUINNESS

• The Story of a Nutcracker. From the Tale by Hoffmann. Published by William Heinemann Ltd, London, in 1953. Presentation copy signed by Bryan Guinness.

Description

• Original yellow cloth, spine lettered in red, pictorial endpapers. With the pictorial dust jacket designed by Roland Pym, a celebrated British stage designer and artist associated with the Bright Young Things circle. Frontispiece and numerous line illustrations throughout the text also by Pym. Octavo.

• A very good copy; the cloth remains bright with minimal rubbing to extremities, text block clean. The unclipped pictorial dust jacket shows neat repair to its inside, with some loss to rear panel.

• First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by co-author Bryan Guinness on the front end paper: ‘with the Best Wishes of Bryan Guinness Moyne, Christmas 1953.’

• Bryan Guinness belonged to the famous banking and brewing Guinness family dynasty. As the eldest son, Bryan inherited the Baron Moyne title upon his father's death.

• Alongside his literary pursuits, he maintained the family business tradition by serving as a director and the Vice-Chairman of Arthur Guinness, Son & Co. for over four decades.

• Bryan Guinness, a central figure in the Bright Young Things, had nevertheless carved out a path distinct from the expectations of his aristocratic lineage.