Noblesse Oblige - Nancy Mitford
ROSS, Alan; MITFORD, Nancy; WAUGH, Evelyn; ‘STRIX’; SYKES, Christopher; BETJEMAN. Noblesse Oblige. An Enquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1956.
First edition. Edited by Nancy Mitford. Illustrated by Osbert Lancaster.
Nancy Mitford (1904–1973), novelist, biographer, journalist, and socialite, wrote numerous well-received articles and books during her career, including the loosely autobiographical novel and her first major success, The Pursuit of Love (1945).
This book is a collection of writings on the social implications of "U"- and "Non-U" language, terms popularised by Nancy Mitford to identify 'true' members of the Upper Classes. The concept of 'Upper-Class English Usage' in speech was introduced by Professor Alan Ross in 1954 in his essay ‘Linguistic class-indicators in present-day English’. A year later Mitford published ‘The English Aristocracy’, an essay on the subject in the literary magazine Encounter. The essay garnered enough attention that she reprinted it in book form - Noblesse Oblige - accompanied by Ross’s paper and rebuttals from well-known writers, including her friend Evelyn Waugh. John Betjeman poeticizes on the theme with characteristic charm, while Osbert Lancaster’s amusing illustrations take the debate into the visual dimension.
114 pages; b&w illustrations. 8vo, original red cloth. Partial browning to endpapers. Very good, in very good dust jacket (minor wear; some light browning to spine and rear panel; minor spotting; not price-clipped). Dust jacket design by Osbert Lancaster.