A good clean copy, with slight nick to bottom of spine of Volume 1, Furniture and Textiles, of the Auction Sale Catalogue produced for the sale of The Edward James Collection, held by Christie's at West Dean Park, Chichester, West Sussex, on June 2nd, 3rd and 6th, 1986. Edward James was born in 1907 into a world of priviledge. He inherited the West Dean Estate on the untimely death of his father in 1912, and is perhaps best known as a passionate supporter of Surrealism, a movement that was born from the political uncertainty and upheaval between the wars when Surrealist artists escaped into a world of fantasy and irrationality. Edward was an early enthusiast of Surrealist artists and supported them by building up a collection of paintings and art objects that subsequently came to be accepted as one of the finest collections of Surrealist work in private hands. He also provided practical help, supporting Salvador Dali for about two years, and allowing Magritte to stay in his London house to do some paintings. In 1964, James donated his English estate at West Dean, which included West Dean House, to a charitable trust. The Edward James Foundation comprises West Dean College, a centre for the preservation of traditional arts and crafts through short courses and full-time Diplomas and M.A.'s. One of only two professional tapestry weaving studios in the U.K., and an Art Gallery are all housed on a 6,400 acre { 26.20 Km. } estate which is open to the public through the West Dean Gardens. West Dean College is part of the Edward James Foundation, set up in 1971 in response to James's vision of establishing "an educational foundation where creative talent can be discovered and developed, and where one can spread culture through the teaching of crafts and the preservation of knowledge that might otherwise be destroyed or forgotten". Soft covers, 490 pages, fully illustrated throughout with both fine black and white and superb full colour plates.
