VAN VECHTEN, Carl (1880-1964) - photo 1
VAN VECHTEN, Carl (1880-1964) - photo 2
VAN VECHTEN, Carl (1880-1964) - photo 3

VAN VECHTEN, Carl (1880-1964)

Lot 142
13.02.2025 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 5 670
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1362799
Lot 142 | VAN VECHTEN, Carl (1880-1964)
Estimate value
£ 2 000 – 3 000
VAN VECHTEN, Carl (1880-1964)
The Tattooed Countess. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1924.
Presentation copy of the first edition, inscribed by the author to his friend George Gershwin: 'For George Gershwin. America’s first great composer'. Van Vechten was one of the most influential cultural impresarios of the early twentieth century in New York; a patron of the Harlem Renaissance, a photographer who captured the era's icons, and a novelist who created some of the Jazz Age's most salacious stories. He was a close confidant of Langston Hughes, Gertrude Stein, George Gershwin, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the Knopfs. He frequented Harlem's jazz clubs, and Greenwich Village's underground gay scene. His novels contained thinly veiled portraits of the era's leading bohemians. Van Vechten photographed Gershwin on several occasions. His inscription was an early and insightful recognition of Gershwin’s great genius.

Octavo (190 x 130mm). Original red, gilt stamped cloth (minor spots on upper side); original pictorial dust-jacket designed by Ralph Barton (very minor edge wear); inlaid and painted pictorial green morocco folding box reproducing the design of the dust jacket, signed Peartree. Provenance: George Gershwin (1898-1937; authorial inscription of endpaper dated October 16 1924) — Barry Humphries (1934-2023; bookplate).
Auction house category:Books, Books and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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13.02.2025 – 13.02.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
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