By Ruth Skilbeck, Editor of 'Escape Artists' PostMistress Anthology
Updated 15 October, since publication of The Dandy at Dusk by Paris Paysan Press.
Today’s featured artist in the 'EscapeArtists' PostMistress Press Anthology 1 is Philip Mann. We are delighted to be
publishing a chapter from author Philip Mann’s forthcoming book The Dandy at Dusk: Stories of Elegance and
Nostalgia, an elegantly written and provocative work, now published by ParisPaysanPress. This is the
first book to explore in depth the phenomenon of the dandy, in its social,
cultural and political ramifications, in terms of gender and the self.
However, our pleasure was tempered by our
regret, for Philip Mann, at the series of difficulties for the author in the
course of his book contract negotiation with a highly regarded and
long-established mainstream publisher. This is the kind of story that is not
unfamiliar to those who work in publishing, and of course to the many authors
who are finding it increasingly difficult to publish.
Under the title Dandies at Dusk, Philip Mann’s book was going to be published by
Flammarion, a long established publisher in Paris. But then Flammarion changed
hands. Philip Mann was informed that Flammarion still wanted to publish his
book. But then there was unwelcome change. Flammarion, following the trend of
many mainstream publishers now, requires that an author have a sponsor to back
the publication. They require a sponsor or self-funding of a substantial sum.
Even after the book was up on Amazon as a pre-order (where it can still be
seen). In January, Philip was told that Flammarion would, regretfully, not be going
ahead with the publication, which they have worked on for two years. Here are
the details of the book description from the Amazon site- which even though Flammarion sent Philip Mann a letter in January breaking the contract to publish is STILL on the Amazon website with the details of the book as if it is about to be published:
Author Philip Mann dispels the myth that dandyism centers upon aestheticism through portraits of the first dandy―Regency England’s Beau Brummell―and six twentieth-century figures: Austrian architect Adolf Loos, The Duke of Windsor, neo-Edwardian couturier Bunny Roger, eccentric writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp, French film producer Jean-Pierre Melville, and New German Cinema savant and “inverted dandy” Rainer Werner Fassbinder. He chronicles their style, identity, influence, melancholy, and often untimely demise, using a mélange of photography, biography, and anecdote. Weaving their stories into an extensive and entertaining history of tailoring and men’s fashion, he offers incisive perspectives on the dandy’s aesthetic concerns, pensive nostalgia for the golden Edwardian era, and a nonchalant persona. He contextualizes the relationship of dandyism to decadence and to modernism, while simultaneously portraying the cultural development of a century punctuated by two World Wars and social upheaval.
This volume presents dandyism—the embodiment of aesthetic and intellectual ideals—from its origins with Beau Brummell to its major twentieth-century representatives. Author Philip Mann dispels the myth that dandyism centers upon vanity through portraits of the first dandy—Regency England's Beau Brummell—and six twentieth-century figures.
Illustration for The Dandy at Dusk by Floc'h, in 'Escape Artists' PostMistress Press Anthology 1
Floc'h the well known French artist drew the illustration above for The Dandy at Dusk.
postmistresspress.com
This anthology project, and founder Ruth Skilbeck's author publishing
projects of her books, that she has sold mainly via communication with people
on facebook, have attracted and drawn together a strong, supportive creative
movement of artists and writers whose works are in the anthology.
Ruth
Skilbeck, PhD, is a widely-published author, art writer, and
photographer, and has lectured in several Australian universities.
There is now a way you can support the publication of this new anthology here.
