THE FLOWER BENEATH THE FOOT: BEING A RECORD OF THE EARLY LIFE OF ST. LAURA DE NAZIANZI AND THE TIMES IN WHICH SHE LIVED
London: Grant Richards Ltd., 1923. First Edition. Sharp copy of Firbank's absurd and flamboyant court satire, set on the eve of a royal wedding. "It creates its own court in the Kingdom of Pisuerga, complete with royal household, during a state visit from the rulers of the Land of Dates. Within this environment Laura de Nazianzi reluctantly enters a nunnery when the prince and heir of Pisuerga deserts her for a marriage of state with the English Princess Elsie...The Flower Beneath the Foot is not a love story, but as usual with Firbank's novels a commentary on a number of things: courts, England and the English, human passion, the religious life" (Benkovitz, Ronald Firbank: A Biography, p.208). Benkovitz A9a; Connolly 100. Item #5382
First Impression, one of 1,000 copies. Octavo (19.5cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; lime green topstain; dustjacket; [ii],[8],9-224 + [8]pp publisher's catalog at rear, with frontispiece portrait of the author by Augustus John, title page portrait by Wyndham Lewis, and front panel illustration by C.R.W. Nevinson reproduced on front pastedown. A single tiny tear at crown, else Fine in a Fine dustjacket.
Price: $2,500.00