The Vein in the Marble by Stephen Tennant and Pamela Grey 1st edition 1925

TENNANT, Stephen; GREY, Pamela – The Vein in the Marble
 
London: Philip Allan & Co, Ltd (1925)
 
Small 4to; quarter cloth bound binding with paper covered boards, labels pasted to upper board and spine, with spare labels tipped into the rear; with the scarce original dust wrapper illustrated by Stephen Tennant, not clipped; displaying the price on the upper panel; pp [8], 64; with illustrative end papers and contents page, along with 32 striking black and white plates by Tennant; wear to the top of the spine end of the book with a split of about 2cm to both outer hinges, along with slight splitting to the inner hinges and between the pages, this seems a common issue for copies of this book; the boards have a small amount of rubbing to the corners but the paper covering and labels seem bright and without marks, the dust wrapper has been repaired to the reverse to the top of the spine and has a couple of small tears to the lower panel but is all there; overall about very good. 
 
Stephen Tennant’s first appearance, at 19 years of age, in print. He had already started to gain a reputation as an up-and-coming artist, and this was his first foray into the world of published printed works. He contributed illustrations, that biographer Philip Hoare described as having an “ethereal quality reminiscent of [Aubrey] Beardsley”. His mother, the Lady Glenconner, Pamela Gray, already a published writer, wrote a combination of poetry and tales of morality such as the woman of the masks and the Princess who knew best. Tennant said of his mother that she was ‘the most perfect of collaborators’ and dedicated the book to her. 
 
The book often turns up on a fragile state, especially around the binding and hinges of the book, this copy is no different. But this copy is also complete with the illusive Tennant designed dust wrapper.