Noblesse Oblige: An Enquiry Into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy (1956) is a book illustrated by Osbert Lancaster, caricaturist of English manners, and published by Hamish Hamilton. The anthology comprises four brief essays by Nancy Mitford, Alan S. C. Ross, "Strix" and Christopher Sykes, a letter by Evelyn Waugh, and a poem by John Betjeman.
First edition (UK)
Nancy Freeman-Mitford was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London social scene in the inter-war period. She wrote several novels about upper-class life in England and France, and is considered a sharp and often provocative wit. She also has a reputation as a writer of popular historical biographies.
Mitford in 1932
"Bertie" Mitford, created Baron Redesdale in 1902
Chart showing some of the connections of the Mitford family, through marriages, to other leading families, including the Russells (dukes of Bedford), the Churchills (dukes of Marlborough) and, via Princess Alexandra, the British royal family. Deborah Mitford married Andrew Cavendish, who became the 11th Duke of Devonshire.
Asthall Manor, the Mitford family home between 1919 and 1926