Glittering Surfaces: A Life of Maie Casey

St. Leonards NSW: Allen & Unwin, 1997. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. 272 pages, indexed and illustrated with black and white photos. The jacket is lightly bumped an chipped at the edges at the edges; Apart from a faded remainder mark on the tail and a gift inscription, the body of the book is clean, unmarked and solid. "Ethel Marian Sumner "Maie" Ryan, Baroness Casey, AC FRSA was an Australian pioneer aviator, poet, librettist, biographer, memoirist and artist. Her husband was Baron Casey, the notable Australian diplomat, parliamentarian and Governor General of Australia. Sir Robert Menzies, the longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, famously referred to her as 'Lady Macbeth' while Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop asserted that she was 'Australia's greatest woman'....Maie Casey published three autobiographical works: An Australian Story, 1837-1907, published in 1962 discussed the history of four generations of her family; Tides and Eddies was published in 1966; and an account of her early married life. In 1980, Rare Encounters included the reminiscences of Lady Edwina Mountbatten, Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Dame Nellie Melba, and her mother in law, Mrs R G Casey. Maie also published in 1975 a biography on Dame Nellie Melba, entitled Melba Re-visited. She further produces two volumes of verse, Verses, in 1963 and From the Night in 1976. She further co-authored Early Melbourne Architecture 1840-1888 in 1953. Baroness Casey was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and, 'in recognition of service to the community, art and literature', was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the 1982 Australia Day Honours List." (WikiTree)