Legendary Parties

The author, who traces his family to the 11th century when they ruled the Barony of Faucigny in Savoie, and who is active in French political and banking circles, records details of certain rarefied fetes held in France between 1922 and 1972, which he hosted or attended as a guest. He recalls the lavish costume balls presided over by such glitterati as the Count Etienne de Beaumonts, the Viscount de Noailleses and the Baron Guy de Rothschilds. In 1928, the author and his first wife ""Baba,'' now deceased (he describes her as ``exotically beautiful'' and ``one of the most elegant women in Paris''), gave a soiree, based on the theme of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, which ended at six in the morning under the Eiffel Tower. There are handsome photographs by Cecil Beaton and reproductions of drawings by Pablo Picasso and Yves Saint Laurent, and of Christian Berard's hand-painted screens. Those who travel, like the author, in the bosom of French society, may want to reminisce amid these pages, but the volume's appeal will escape the general reader. (November)