Valse des Fleurs: A Day in St Petersburg and a Ball at the Winter Palace in 1868 [SIGNED]

York: The Fairfax Press, 1980. Limited edition. Hardcover. vg. 1/30. Quarto. X, [2], 90, [6]pp. Uncut. Original half cream calf over blue cloth, with gold lettering on spine. Top edge gilt. Book housed in a slipcase designed by Henry Moore. Decorative endpapers and title page. Limitation page hand-signed by both Sacheverell Sitwell and Henry Moore. "Valse des Fleurs" is the perfect introduction to St. Petersburg in its heyday, set on one glittering winter's day as the courtiers, servants, guards, officials and dignitaries later condemned by the Russian Revolution prepare for a ball given by the Tsar. Originally published in July 1941, shortly after the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941), the book, written by English poet and aristocrat Sacheverell Sitwell, seems to foresee the destruction looming Leningrad (St Petersburg) when the glamourous city will have to face a siege of 872 days (from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944). Indeed, when the siege was lifted, horrific photographs of the destruction of the Romanov palaces outside Leningrad (St. Petersburg) would reach London and the West. Yellow and white Peterhof with its golden fountains and the huge sapphire-blue Catherine Palace had been shelled, burned and looted, their rooftops open to the sky. Painted ceilings hung in shreads, broken scupture and gilded furniture littered the snow around the palaces. Facing such destruction, the glittering Romanov court and its lavish opulence was a distant memory. "Valse des Fleurs" covers more than just a ball - it paints a picture of Russia in 1868 focusing on the splendors of St. Petersburg, Tsarskoe Selo and Moscow; court life and society are its focus. Endpapers, and slipcase panels by Henry Moore, and two vignettes engraved on wood by Reynolds Stone. One of 30 H. C. copies, of which this is No. 12. Slipcase, binding and interior in overall very good condition.