New York: Pantheon Books, 1960. Item #1545

8vo. 220 x 150 mm., [8 ¾ x 6 inches]. 337 pp., with sixteen unnumbered leaves of plates containing thirty black and white photographs inserted between pages of text and including an Index of Historical Events and an Index. Additional b&w illustration as the frontispiece as well as two b&w maps of Venice. Publishers’ blue cloth over boards with gilt lettering on the spine and a gilt stamp showing the lion of Saint Mark on the upper cover; illustrated endpapers showing a map of Venice; unclipped illustrated dust jacket. Book is Fine: very minor fraying at the head and foot of the spine; some foxing along the page edges but otherwise in close to perfect condition. Jacket is Near Fine: minor chipping at the head and foot of the spine; moderate soiling and shelf wear but nevertheless still rather attractive. 

First Edition. Catherine Jan Morris (born James Morris) (1926-2020) was a Welsh historian, journalist and travel writer. She achieved early fame as the only journalist to accompany the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition and would continue to be known for her celebrated Pax Britannica series (1968-1978) on the British Empire, and as an early public figure to undergo gender-affirming surgery. Venice, which achieved critical and public acclaim upon release, is full of Morris’ impressions of the city, blending travel writing, history and her own personal experiences and recollections. It is one of several of her well-regarded biographies of cities which includes, among others, Oxford (1965) and Trieste (2001) and her first work on a subject that she would revisit throughout her career with works such as The Venetian Empire (1980) and The Venetian Bestiary (1982).

Price: $100.00