Cecil Beaton — Near East Far East

London, B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1943-45. First edition. Cloth. Two pleasing first editions of Cecil Beaton's autobiographical account of his travels around India and China, with original photographs by the author. Two first edition photo books by British photographer, Cecil Beaton. Near East was published in 1943, followed by the continuation, Far East in 1945. Both were compiled by Beaton whilst as a photographer for the Ministry of Information, stationed in India and China. Bound in the original publisher's cloth with unclipped pictorial dust wrappers. Far East printed on beautiful, hand made paper. Near East illustrated with a monochrome frontispiece and forty-six pages of monochrome photographic plates. Far East illustrated with a coloured frontispiece and thirty-two pages of monochrome photographic plates, with further vignette in-text illustrations. Collated, complete.A revealing anecdotal account of two, war-time countries, by one of Britain's most renowned photographers. Bound in the original publisher's cloth with unclipped pictorial dust wrappers. Externally, excellent. Light fading to cloth of Near East at spine with tiding to rear board and minor bumping to extremities. Far East with only minor bumping to extremities, a single stain to upper spine. Minor offsetting to rear free of Near East. Light spotting to front free of Far East. Dust wrappers, generally smart. Near East with chips resulting in loss to paper at extremities. Prominent closed tear to lower rear wrap, repaired with archival tape to reverse. Additional smaller closed tear to top of rear wrap. Loss of paper from rubbing to rear joint and folds. Offsetting to reverse. Far East with small loss from chips and tears due to shelf wear to extremities, notable at head of spine. Additional spotting and light offsetting to reverse wrap and fly leaves. Internally, firmly bound. Light spotting to fore edge. Pages bright and clean. Very Good . Ill.: Cecil Beaton. Very Good/Very Good.