PULBROOK, Susan

GOULD, Rosamund  

“FLOWERS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS”

London. B T Batsford. 1992. Quarto (8.5 in x  11.5 in). 94 pp. Reprint (First edition was 1982). Hardcover, with original dust jacket in fine condition.

THIS COPY INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR !

 

***This title is one of about 50 or so books from David Jones’ personal library ALL OF WHICH ARE INSCRIBED EITHER TO DAVID JONES OR TO NANCY REAGAN. Please search our other listings for Mr. Jones’ inventory of fine decorating, gardening, design or floral accent books.*** 

Provenance:

This item is from the Estate of noted celebrity florist and decorator David Jones.  Jones, a Hollywood florist who for 50 years adorned the grand social affairs of a roster of famous clients that included Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson, as well as the Reagans, Paleys and Bloomingdales.

During his early years in New York, he worked at the homes of Mrs. Roosevelt; William S. Paley, the chief executive of CBS, and his wife, Barbara; and the banking heir Paul Mellon and his wife, Rachel. In the late 50’s and 60’s he made some of his first visits to the White House, becoming a favorite of Mrs. Eisenhower and Mrs. Kennedy.

It was Nancy Reagan who gave Mr. Jones entree to the social elite at the other end of the country, he told interviewers. She had just retired from acting when Mr. Jones moved to a shop on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in 1963.

Mrs. Reagan was taken by his designs. He was known for his English country-cottage-style flower arrangements — a gauzy romantic look that often incorporated flowers and plants from his clients’ own gardens, especially roses, dahlias and potted citrus and fig trees.

His client list grew to include Mary and Jack Benny, Betsy and Alfred Bloomingdale, Walter and Leonore Annenberg, Joan Crawford, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, James Garner, Audrey Hepburn, Zubin Mehta, Liam Neeson, Joan Rivers, Barbara Stanwyck and David Geffen.

Given his close association with the Reagans and many other social elites, he accumulated many signed books over the years some of which we will sell here.

Please email any questions –