WHISTLER, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903). Eden versus Whistler, Paris, 1899, large 8vo, original boards. FIRST EDITION, ASSOCIATION COPY, with the old armorial bookplate of Anthony Eden. With another book by Whistler, and a related album. (3)

WHISTLER, James Abbott McNeill (1834-1903).  Eden versus Whistler. The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict. Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899. Large 8vo (203 x 160mm). Wood-engraved decorations by Whistler. Original mustard-yellow cloth-backed decorated boards gilt, uncut (edges rubbed, corners bumped). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (old armorial bookplate). FIRST EDITION, ASSOCIATION COPY. In 1892, Sir William Morton Eden, 7th Baronet (1849-1915), commissioned Whistler to paint a portrait of his wife, Lady Eden. This resulted in an extended dispute over the price and a court case which Eden eventually won, although it led to Whistler destroying the painting and publishing the present work in revenge. Anthony Eden was William Eden's third son. With the same author's The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (London, reprinted 1909, original cloth-backed boards gilt), and an album containing contemporary newspaper clippings announcing Sir William Eden's death in 1915, many of which give a full account of the affair with Whistler. (3)