"Truffle Hunt" 1953 SITWELL, Sacheverell
$125
SITWELL, Sacheverell
[310] pp.
Robert Hale Limited
1953
8 3/4" x 6"
Jacket design by Hawkins
VG/ VG
Truffle Hunt is not like any other book. The first half of it consists of over forty short essays written by Mr. Sitwell for The Sunday Times. They were recognized at the time as something unique in newspaper journalism. Their range and diversity of subject matter reflected the tastes and interests of a busy lifetime. One of the most widely and curiously informed of contemporary minds set himself to the weekly task of entertaining and amusing that greater public he had not approached before. The numerous letters printed in answer in the correspondence column were some measure of his success. Mr. Sitwell here reprints the essays in question. They are. perhaps, models of how much can be achieved in a small paragraph. Rather more than half of Truffle Hunt consists of these essays. The rest is a continuation in the same style and manner, but with two or three extended episodes added for good measure; among the latter are amusing essays on the vivandieres of the Second Empire, and on the Neapolitan army of King 'Bomba', so quickly dispersed by Garibaldi's "Thousand". There is, as well, an essay on Japanese Gardens, and another on a German eighteenth-century doll's house; and Mr. Sitwell concludes with what his, in effect, a postscript to is well-known book on Spain. The whole work is unique. It is the note-book of Mr. Sitwell's well-stored mind. The illustrations, gathered from a variety of sources, and the specially designed jacket by Miss Irene Hawkins from suggestions by the author form not the least delightful features of a brilliant entertainment.