BEACHY.
[Boston]: Privately published by the author, [1961]. Octavo. Blue cloth, gilt spine, gilt title on upper panel. 110 pp. Numerous black and white photos of Beachy over the years. Inscribed to Ruth duPont Lord on the front free endpaper in the year of publication. Gently sunned at spine and edges, else very good; without a dust jacket, as issued.
First edition. Touching and heartfelt tribute from a mother to her daughter, Beatrice Talbot [1920-1957], nicknamed "Bice," which devolved into "Beachy" over time. Beachy was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis in the spring of 1957 and succumbed in November of that year after a seemingly successful operation to have her thymus removed. The recipient of this copy of the tribute was a roommate and close friend of Beachy Talbot's at Vassar, and appears in some of the photos included in the text. Ms. duPont Lord "was the last private resident of the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, a 175-room mansion and large estate that her father, Henry Francis du Pont, developed to house his collection of American decorative arts, breed cattle, and cultivate gardens. Winterthur became a public museum and grounds in 1951. As had long been her preference, Lord maintained a smaller residence called Golf Cottage on the estate (along with residences in New Haven, New York, and Florida)" -- from Wikipedia. Item #671
Price: $25.00