The Glitter and the Gold, Signed by Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan
[Signed by Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan] Balsan, Consuelo Vanderbilt. The Glitter and the Gold. First Edition. 1952. Book is in very good condition; dust jacket is in good plus condition—jacket shows moderate fraying and chipping, as well as a few edge tears. Book is signed “Consuelo V. Balsan, 1957” on the flyleaf, and is also inscribed by her.
Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan’s memoir of life as a Vanderbilt and as the unhappy “dollar princess” bride of the Duke of Marlborough is a quintessential tale of the Gilded Age, but with a Romeo and Juliet twist. Consuelo’s domineering mother, Alva, locked her away to keep her from her true love, Win Rutherfurd, so she would be free to marry into one of the UK’s most powerful ducal families, elevating the entire family’s social prospects, most particularly Alva’s, who was trying to get back into society’s good graces following her divorce from Consuelo’s father. Her scheme worked. Thereafter, divorce no longer meant social ostracism in New York society. And, eventually, things resolved happily for Consuelo as well, as she relates in this memoir. She followed up her miserable union with the Duke of Marlborough to a love match with Jacques Balsan. Edith Wharton based a character on Consuelo in The Buccaneers, and more recently, Julian Fellowes followed suit in his HBO series, The Gilded Age.
“A title still evokes particular relish and ‘Your Grace’ is at times pronounced with almost reverent unction. I still recall with mirth an occasion when a clergyman before luncheon one day addressed my husband thus: ‘May I say grace, Your Grace?”
– Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan