Bette Davis By Alexander Walker
Bette Davis
An Decisive Biographical Portrait and Intimate Studio-System Archive Tracking the Fierce Trajectory of Hollywood's Ultimate Grand Dame
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Bette Davis
- Author: Alexander Walker
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Books, London
- Publication Date: 1995
- ISBN-10: 1854714929
- ISBN-13: 9781854714923
- Edition Details: First Bloomsbury Edition, Standard Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium cloth-bound hardcover boards with silver spine lettering, housed in an original unclipped illustrated paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Royal Octavo (8vo), 192 pages. Enhanced with an extensive archive of rare glossy theatrical headshots, early Broadway performance stills, and definitive Warner Brothers production graphics.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Used – Near Fine / Mint (NF)
- Exterior / Boards: The original hardback cloth covers are immaculate, uniform, and structurally flawless with exceptionally sharp corners. The spine remains uncreased, unbroken, and completely undamaged with solid binding integrity.
- Interior: Pristine and untouched. The text block binding is completely square and tight. Internal pages, text margins, and high-gloss photographic arrays are bright white, clean, and entirely immaculate. Free of user highlighting, margin notes, page folding, or bookstore stamps.
- Protective Preservation: Secured within a custom-fitted premium archival cellophane wrapper, offering full defense against airborne dust, friction, and environmental wear.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Condition details: Beautifully preserved, vibrant, and complete. Displays only microscopic, very limited cosmetic signs of light storage handling along the extreme edges, completely avoiding tears, heavy scuffs, color loss, or chips.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1995, Bette Davis stands as a masterfully executed, deeply personal assessment of the undisputed grand dame of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Spanning an astonishing 55-year career that yielded over ninety feature films and two Academy Awards, this definitive biography looks past the carefully managed veneers of the studio system to analyze the extraordinary qualities that made Davis one of cinema's most durable survivors. Renowned film critic Alexander Walker, who knew Davis personally for over twenty years, pieces together her raw, formidable journey from a promising New York stage actress to an explosive Hollywood star. The narrative chronicles her legendary, turbulent, and litigious wars with Jack Warner and Warner Brothers, highlighting how she aggressively seized every opportunity to showcase her staggering dramatic range. This near-fine, beautifully preserved first edition serves as an essential archival keepsake for classic cinema historians, film theory students, and serious Hollywood memorabilia collectors.
Author Profile: Alexander Walker
Alexander Walker (1930–2003) was one of the most prominent, influential, and widely read film critics in British journalistic history. Serving as the chief film critic for the London Evening Standard for over three decades, Walker was a three-time winner of the British Press Critic of the Year award. He authored over twenty authoritative books on cinema, specializing in definitive biographic chronicles of Hollywood icons like Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, and Elizabeth Taylor. Renowned for his deep insider connections, elegant narrative prose, and balance, his biographies are highly regarded by collectors for their historical accuracy and deep understanding of the global film industry.
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