"The Magic Image records the development of photography through the images and their makers, from the early pioneers ... to the great photographers today ... series of entries devoted to over 200 individual artists. Each entry consists of a key photograph, a comprehensive section of biographical and technical details ... and a personal assessment by Beaton of the photographer's contribution to his art ... A complete glossary of photographic processes...

Gorgeously repackaged, this reissue of the classic book presents the iconic photographer's expert and witty reminiscences of the personalities who inspired fashion's golden eras, and left an indelible mark on his own sense of taste and style. "The camera will never be invented that could capture or encompass all that he actually sees," Truman Capote once said of Cecil Beaton. Though known for his portraits, Beaton was as incisive a writer as he was...

Arrogant, irascible, and misogynistic professor of phonetics Henry Higgins believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society. He boasts to a new acquaintance, Colonel Hugh Pickering--also an expert in phonetics--that he could teach any woman to speak so "properly" that he could pass her off as a duchess at an embassy ball. He chooses as an example a sassy, young working-class London flower seller from the...