PRESLEY, Elvis; GUTTMACHER, Peter

Elvis! Elvis! Elvis! The King and His Movies

New York: Metro Books, 1997. Item #06677

“It’s a Great Pleasure Working With You”
Elvis Presley to Yvonne Romaine - A Unique Association Copy Linking Elvis, Film, and Leslie Bricusse

[PRESLEY, Elvis]. GUTTMACHER, Peter. Elvis! Elvis! Elvis! The King and His Movies. New York: Metro Books, [1997].

First edition. Square folio (11 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches; 285 x 285 mm.). 128 pp. Profusely illustrated in color and black & white throughout. Publisher’s purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt, pictorial endpapers. In the original full-color pictorial dust jacket. A fine copy, complete with the original publisher’s soundtrack CD in plastic mount on the front pastedown.
Loosely inserted are two complete sheets of “Legends of American Music: Elvis” U.S. commemorative postage stamps (40 × 29¢ stamps per sheet).

Provenance & Association:

Mounted to the verso of the front free endpaper is an original 10 x 8 inch vintage photograph of Elvis Presley, boldly inscribed:
“To Yvonne / it’s a great pleasure working with you / Elvis Presley”

The recipient, Yvonne Romaine (Evie Bricusse), appears in the volume (p. 100) and co-starred with Presley in the 1967 film Double Trouble. Her marriage to Leslie Bricusse - one of the great songwriters of the 20th century - places this copy firmly within the Bricusse circle, a provenance of exceptional resonance for collectors of music, film, and theatrical history.

A particularly appealing convergence of Hollywood and musical history, this copy transcends its status as a modern illustrated Elvis title through the presence of a direct working inscription - not a fan presentation, but one tied to on-set collaboration. The inscription’s tone (“a great pleasure working with you”) strongly supports its origin during or shortly after the filming of Double Trouble (1967), providing a tangible link to Presley’s cinematic career.

The addition of the commemorative stamp sheets and original CD enhances the collectible package, but it is the inscribed photograph to Romaine (Bricusse) that elevates the volume into a true association copy, connecting Elvis not only to his film work, but indirectly to the world of West End and Broadway through Leslie Bricusse.

Price: $6,500.00