One Special Summer, Ex Libris Gore Vidal
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[Ex Libris Gore Vidal] Bouvier, Jacqueline and Lee. One Special Summer. First Edition. 1974. Book is in good minus condition; dust jacket is in very good minus condition—boards show significant wear and there is scattered foxing on the pages, and jacket shows repaired tears and light discoloration. Book is stamped “From the library of GORE VIDAL” on the flyleaf. Introduction and postscript by Lee Bouvier Radziwill.
Though their divorcée mother remarried into one of the great 20th Century fortunes, the Bouvier sisters themselves entered adulthood with sophistication but no wealth—much like their stepbrother once removed, Gore Vidal (to whom this copy belonged). Hence, the sisters were delighted when, in 1951, their mother and stepfather bankrolled a summer in Europe for the pair, sans chaperone. They showed their appreciation by presenting them with a scrapbook recounting their adventures (text mostly by Lee and illustrations and poetry by Jacqueline). Their adventures are quaint but amusing, with descriptions of sultry foreign boys with whom they flirted, a visit to Lee’s pen pal and hero Bernard Berenson, and most hilariously, their attempt to flee their steerage accommodations aboard The Queen Mary and gatecrash into first class. It remained unpublished until Lee discovered it stashed away in the early 1970s and arranged for its publication.
“Last night Jackie and I tried to make ourselves respectable to sneak into 1st Class. We tore across the 3rd class deck, lept over a large fence, whizzed down 1 flight of stairs, lept over another fence—and finally we were there.”
--Lee Bouvier
Though their divorcée mother remarried into one of the great 20th Century fortunes, the Bouvier sisters themselves entered adulthood with sophistication but no wealth—much like their stepbrother once removed, Gore Vidal (to whom this copy belonged). Hence, the sisters were delighted when, in 1951, their mother and stepfather bankrolled a summer in Europe for the pair, sans chaperone. They showed their appreciation by presenting them with a scrapbook recounting their adventures (text mostly by Lee and illustrations and poetry by Jacqueline). Their adventures are quaint but amusing, with descriptions of sultry foreign boys with whom they flirted, a visit to Lee’s pen pal and hero Bernard Berenson, and most hilariously, their attempt to flee their steerage accommodations aboard The Queen Mary and gatecrash into first class. It remained unpublished until Lee discovered it stashed away in the early 1970s and arranged for its publication.
“Last night Jackie and I tried to make ourselves respectable to sneak into 1st Class. We tore across the 3rd class deck, lept over a large fence, whizzed down 1 flight of stairs, lept over another fence—and finally we were there.”
--Lee Bouvier
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