Cecil Beaton, The Parting Years, Diaries: 1963-74
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$125.00
$125.00
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Beaton, Cecil. The Parting Years, Diaries: 1963-74. First Edition. 1978. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition—jacket shows light fraying and minor edge tears.
In this, the final volume of diaries published during his lifetime, Beaton writes, “I don’t really feel that I am ever going to come into my own, to justify myself and my existence by some last great gesture. I am likewise certain that nothing I have done is likely to live long after me.” Time proved him wrong, but actually the quality of the writing in this book does as well. It is filled with perceptive and superbly written epitaphs of friends who died (he is at that age in which it was occurring frequently). He also chronicles adventures with new acquaintances (such as David Hockney and Mick Jagger), as well as his misgivings on the knighthood bestowed upon him.
“’Sir’ is a romantic title. It sounds so unlike me, so much less personal than ‘Mr. Beaton’. ‘Sir’ on envelopes seems to take away some individuality, but I felt proud, and sorry that my mother was not alive to share my pleasure.”
--Cecil Beaton
In this, the final volume of diaries published during his lifetime, Beaton writes, “I don’t really feel that I am ever going to come into my own, to justify myself and my existence by some last great gesture. I am likewise certain that nothing I have done is likely to live long after me.” Time proved him wrong, but actually the quality of the writing in this book does as well. It is filled with perceptive and superbly written epitaphs of friends who died (he is at that age in which it was occurring frequently). He also chronicles adventures with new acquaintances (such as David Hockney and Mick Jagger), as well as his misgivings on the knighthood bestowed upon him.
“’Sir’ is a romantic title. It sounds so unlike me, so much less personal than ‘Mr. Beaton’. ‘Sir’ on envelopes seems to take away some individuality, but I felt proud, and sorry that my mother was not alive to share my pleasure.”
--Cecil Beaton
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