The World in Vogue, Signed by Alexander Liberman and Jessica Daves
[Signed by Alexander Liberman and Jessica Daves] Daves, Jessica (ed.) The World in Vogue. First Edition. 1963. Book and dust jacket are both in very good minus condition—book has a distracting third-party gift inscription on the flyleaf, and jacket shows edge tears, fraying, and minor soiling (a nice example; the jacket for this title is often in tatters). Book is signed “Jessica Daves” and “Alexander Liberman” on the title page.
At time of publication, this book’s editors were headed in opposite directions. Alexander Liberman had just been promoted to editorial director of all Condé Nast Publications, and Jessica Daves, Vogue editor since 1952, had recently left that position to make way for Diana Vreeland, whose flamboyant style was a better match for the rollercoaster ride of the coming decade. (As Grace Mirabella once commented, what makes someone a good Vogue editor in one era becomes her downfall in the next.) This book, Dave’s swansong, released on the magazine’s seventieth anniversary, is a compendium of its best writing, photographs, and illustration with contributions by Edward Steichen, Emily Post, Dorothy Baron de Meyer, Somerset Maugham, Jean Cocteau, and many others.
“Vogue has sometimes been called a civilizing force. If that is true, perhaps it is because a civilization, to endure, needs voices to sing its praise.”
--Jessica Daves