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LOVELL, MARY: : A Scandalous Life: THE BIOGRAPHY OF JANE DIGBY. [Author SIGNED copy.]

LONDON.RICHARD COHEN BOOKS,1995.

ISBN 1860660010.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE/FINE. Previous owner's black ink name+address stamps (2) to front pastedown,one completely hidden and one partially hidden by dw/dj's inner flap and similar visible stamp to top,right-hand corner of rear free endpaper and no price-clip to dw/dj.Author's warm dedication,date (July 31 '95) and signature: 'To June With kindest regards & best wishes from Mary S Lovell' to front free endpaper inscrptn and price-clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,colour painting illustrated panels of dw/dj,with white lettering to front panel and spine/backstrip; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Some minor scoring/ indents to dw/dj but without any penetration or affecting the boards beneath.Top+ fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips, appears unread - apart from my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered, original plain dark blue cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip,a b/w striped headband and immaculate plain pale grey endpapers - owner stamps and author's inscrptn excepted.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,vii-xvipp+1-365pp [paginated] includes contents list/table,letter extract,author's note,author's preface,25 chapters and an epilogue,16pp historical contemporary b/w illus+photographs in 2 blocks of 4pp and 1 block of 8pp,between pp96/7,pp176/7 and pp288/9 respectively,an appendix,notes,a bibliography, acknowledgements and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title page with subject's b/w portrait illustrated frntis to it's reverse, title page and dedication. Jane Digby has been called "one of the most remarkable women of the 19thC".A celebrated beauty,she was married at seventeen to Lord Ellenborough (later Viceroy of India).He was twice her age and within a few years she left him for an Austrian prince resulting in one of England's most scandalous divorces.When the Prince deserted her she became the mistress and confidante of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, marrying for convenience a German baron who worshipped her.Subsequently she fell in love with a young Greek count who fought her husband in a duel while eloping with her. After discovering that her Greek husband was unfaithful,and heartbroken at the death of her six-year- old son,she became an inveterate traveller in the Orient.For a time she became the mistress of an Albanian general and was thrilled to share his rough outdoor life as queen of his brigand army, living in caves,riding fiery Arab horses and hunting game in the mountains for food; until she found that he too was unfaithful and left him on the spot. Middle-aged but still stunningly beautiful,and vowing to renounce men,she headed for Syria where she met and married the love of her life,a Bedouin nobleman,Sheikh Medjuel el Mezrab who was twenty years her junior.During the remainder of her life she adopted for six months of each year the exotic but uniquely harsh existence of a desert nomad living in the famous black goathair tents of Arabia; the remaining months she spent in the splendid palace she built for herself and Medjuel in Damascus.As wife to the Sheikh and mother to his tribe this passionate woman found not only genuine fulfilment but further adventures,all of which she committed each year to her diary. Bestselling biographer Mary S Lovell has produced from these diaries not only a sympathetic and dramatic portrait of a rare woman but a fascinating glimpse into the centuries-old tradition of the Bedouin that is now almost lost. Please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,SIGNED,1st edn.
'To June With kindest regards & best wishes from Mary S Lovell

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