Manners from Heaven. A Divine Guide to Good Behavior
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1984. 1st Edition. Octavo, publisher’s black cloth over dove paper-covered boards, spine stamped in metallic pink, gray endpapers, original photo-illustrated dust jacket.
Presentation copy of raconteur and gay icon (and iconoclast) Quentin Crisp's etiquette book. Crisp subsisted as a cross-dressing rent-boy in WWII London, before going on to work as an artist's model. His landmark memoir The Naked Civil Servant was published in 1968, and later filmed for television. He relocated to New York in the 80s and worked in film and television, most notably starring as Queen Elizabeth I in Sally Potter's Orlando (1992). He was nevertheless a controversial figure in the gay community, denigrating the gay rights movement, making caustic remarks about the AIDS epidemic, and disparaging Princess Diana. A common thread of these assaults appears to have been the ever socially-minded and essentially genteel Crisp's intolerance for what he perceived as the unpardonable sin of vulgarity. This guide to good behavior, co-written by John Hofsess, comprises short, witty lectures on tact, conversation, politeness, social awkwardness, and how to behave kindly in public without manners turning into snobbery. Inscribed by Crisp to first blank page: "To Carol Christian-Ides / from Quentin Crisp." Author photo to upper panel of dust jacket by Anton Corbijn. First printing with complete number row to copyright page. Faint toning to board edges; unclipped dust jacket with light toning and edgewear. Very good. Item #12960
$85.00