Vanderbilt Cup Races

I purchased this first edition book over 10 years ago.

Until this week, I did not remember the book was signed by "Consuelo V. Balsam" in 1952 and her then husband  "Jacques Balsam".

The book was inscribed to Dr. H. Lyman Hooker, a prominent Manhattan physician.

The Frontispiece: The Marlborough Family, painted by John Singer Sargent in 1905.

William K. Vanderbilt, Consuelo and Willie K.'s father ((1900).

Alva Vanderbilt, Consuelo and Willie K's mother. In costume at her famous dress ball (1883).

Alva and baby Consuelo (1877).

Alva and her three children, William, Harold and Consuelo.

Consuelo wrote about her bother:

"My brother Willie was my junior by 18 months. He had inherited my father's charm and sweet temper. The wistful look of his big green eyes was appealing but he has mischievous and recklessly daring.  He used to ride one of those old-fashioned high-wheeled bicycles at such speed that he took many tosses. ..I had for him the love little girls expend on their juniors and we shared a keen sense of fun."

"Willie had inherited a large share of my father's charm. He had the same joyousness and overwhelming spirits, and he possessed a sense of humor which a vivid imagination enhanced. He was very human, very lovable and very popular. I have never known a better host. When one crossed the threshold of his home or boarded his yacht the genial friendliness of his welcome immediately awakened a sense of well-being. He seemed so happy to see one and so anxious to give one a good time.... When he died at 64 the tributes from comrades in the Navy, in which he served in World War I, and from friends in every walk of life were sincere and touching. There had been something fundamentally so good and kind in him; few failed to recognize it".

Consuelo at 10 years old (1887).

Consuelo at 16 years old (1893). Two years later at the age of 18, she married Charles Spencer -Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough.

Consuelo and her two sons (1900).

Consuelo at the coronation oof King Edward VII (1902).

1904

1905

With her son Ivor, painted by Giovanni  Boldini (1906). The painting hangs in The Met.

At Blenheim Palace.

Consuelo (third from left) and her husband's first cousin Winston Churchill.

Alva Vanderbilt Belmont speaking at a suffragette meeting in Newport, Rhode Island. Consuelo is seated at the far right (1914).

1919

Consuelo at  65 years old (1942).