MODERNISM’S INNER CIRCLE

Sitwell, Sacheverell (1897-1988)

For Want of the Golden City [Signed - Association to Monroe Wheeler & Glenway Wescott]

London: Thames & Hudson, 1973. First Edition, First Printing.
SIGNED TO MONROE WHEELER & GLENWAY WESCOTT — A MODERNIST ASSOCIATION COPY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER
A premier mid-century literary association copy of Sacheverell Sitwell's major philosophical memoir, inscribed and signed by the author using his intimate nickname to two giants of the American modernist vanguard. Dated 30 May 1973, the volume is warmly inscribed to Monroe Wheeler, the influential director of exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, and Glenway Wescott, the celebrated American novelist and figure of the expatriate Paris generation. This book stands as a remarkable testament to a decades-long transatlantic cultural alliance, bridging the British aristocratic avant-garde with the core of the mid-century American fine arts movement.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Visuals: Original illustrated dust jacket.
+++ Binding: Light blue cloth with gilt spine titles.
+++ Content: Sitwell’s 'fantasia'—a philosophical memoir of his life and aesthetic beliefs.
+++ Associated Names: Sacheverell Sitwell (Author); Monroe Wheeler (Dedicatee); Glenway Wescott (Dedicatee).
+++ Provenance: From the personal libraries of Monroe Wheeler and Glenway Wescott, with their respective ex libris labels. [A later acquisition from a private collection].
+++ Imprint: First edition.
+++ Specs: 9.75 inches tall / 464 pages including index.

 CONDITION Fine / Near Fine -- The book is in superior condition. The dust jacket is bright and complete, showing only the most modest shelf-wear.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE --
Sacheverell Sitwell, along with his siblings Edith and Osbert, formed a formidable triumvirate that heavily influenced British cultural life from the 1920s through the post-war era. As a prolific critic, art historian, and poet, Sacheverell spent his life championing the baroque, the forgotten corners of European architecture, and a deeply stylized approach to literature that rejected standard realist forms.

For Want of the Golden City is Sitwell’s ultimate aesthetic summation—a dense, lyrical memoir cast as a 'fantasia' that looks back on a life spent in the pursuit of beauty. Published in 1973 when Sitwell was in his mid-seventies, the book stands as his final major prose statement, capturing his mature reflections on art, mortality, and the rapid changes of the twentieth century.

The association value of this copy is monumental. Monroe Wheeler and Glenway Wescott were a prominent couple at the center of international modernism; Wescott was an acclaimed novelist praised by F. Scott Fitzgerald, while Wheeler helped steer the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) through its most transformative decades. The intimate inscription signed 'Sachie'—coupled with the presence of both men's individual bookplates—proves that this volume was an active token of a deep, lifelong friendship among the elder statesmen of a golden literary generation.

SCHOLARLY FEATURES
+++ Socio-Historical Context: Records the enduring social and artistic networks that connected the British aristocracy's avant-garde wings with the institutional gatekeepers of American modernism.
+++ Literary Influence: Captures Sitwell's late-period synthesis of art history, travel writing, and baroque aesthetics, serving as a primary text for his final philosophical phase.
+++ Publishing History: Illustrates the high production values maintained by Thames & Hudson in the early 1970s for prestigious cultural and literary biographies.

SUBJECTS: Sacheverell Sitwell, Monroe Wheeler, Glenway Wescott, literary associations, 20th century memoirs, art history, Association Copy, Signed Edition, Memoir, First Edition, First Edition, Association Copy, Signed Copy, Memoirs

Item #21248
ISBN: 050001096x

Price: $425.00