Josephine Baker by Hammond, Bryan and O'Connor, Patrick - 1988

London: Jonathan Cape, 1988. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. xv + 304 pages. Compilation by Brian Hammond based on his personal collection and theatrical biography by Patrick O'Connor. Foreword by Elisabeth Welch. Josephine Baker was the first Black superstar, a thrilling presence, an innovative show-business pioneer. She was also a passionate humanitarian, a fighter, a survivor. This book celebrates every facet of her extraordinary life, from her poor childhood in St. Louis to her two spectacular last performances in London and Paris. Snapshots, posed studies and on-stage action-shots recall her life from the earliest days as a comic chorus-girl to her international fame. Portraits and caricatures by Paul Cohn and Kiffer mark her heyday in Paris; the admiring words of Colette and Hemingway, together with reminiscences of her children, accompany postcards, song sheets, posters and film stills reproduced for the first time in book form. Her brave work for the French Resistance and her twelve adopted children, the 'Rainbow Tribe', both have their place in Bryan Hammond's personal collection of memorabilia gathered over 25 years. Her story includes events that led to her being awarded the Légion d'Honneur, bankruptcy, her return to triumph in Paris, and a 21 gun salute funeral. PLEASE NOTE: A LARGE HEAVY VOLUME OF 1.5 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL SHIPPING COST 23. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.