The Astors; a Family Chronicle

London: George G. Harrap & Co. Limited. Very Good/Good. 1966. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo Dust jacket complete except price clipped, a little rubbed. Original cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership marks. Light foxing to end papers. Illustrations / plates. 336 pages clean and tight. In 1784, at the age of 21, John Jacob Astor I reached New York from Europe to begin the career which was to assure his descendants of becoming millionaires. With a shrewd eye for business and a sixth sense for making money, Astor went intp the fur trade, forming the extremely lucrative American Fur Company. When he finally disposed of it in 1834 to devote himself to an even greater money-spinner, real estate, it had earned him two million dollars and an assured place in New York Society. Money, charm, and influence kept each new wave of Astors at the top of the social ladder-despite the fact that Astor marriages were almost inevitably followed by divorce, and that they were among the least humanitarian of New York landlords. It was in the early 18go's that William Waldorf Astor, cousin of John Jacob IV, created the branch of the family which we know best today: the Barons of Hever, masters of Cliveden, politicians, newspaper proprietors, society figures. The Astor who in 1963 became involved in the Ward-Profumo scandal was the son of Nancy Astor, the first woman to sit in the House of Commons. What was once the richest family in the world is now merely rich, and haunted daily by the fear of taxation and death duties. They have relinquished their hold on New York, but both New York and London carry reminders of the heyday of what must have been one of the most amazing families ever. .