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The elaborate life of Grey Gardens‘ own Little Edie is chronicled in her newly published 1929 childhood diary, poetically dubbed I Only Mark the Hours that Shine.

Long before she set the precedent for modern-day shabby chic in the Maysles brothers’ 1976 documentary, Edith Bouvier Beale faithfully documented her affluent youth during the Roaring Twenties. Set against a backdrop of salons, theaters, exclusive clubs, and private beaches, Little Edie’s passionate account primes the canvas for her equally unusual and fascinating adulthood.

A writer, model, socialite, and the epitome of the modern woman, Little Edie continues to serve as a muse, even after her death in 2002. She’s since inspired a Tony Award-winning musical, an HBO movie, and a song by Rufus Wainwright.

Read an interview with the Beales, visit Grey Gardens Collections online, check out the official Grey Gardens fan site, and buy a copy of I Only Mark the Hours That Shine.

Click through below for a gallery of images from Little Edie’s youth.

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie in costume for the East Hampton Ladies Village Improvement Society annual fair, 1929

Courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

A page from Little Edie’s 1929 diary

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie and her two brothers in costume for the Riding Club pageant America

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie and friends in costume, 1929

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Image from Little Edie’s 1929 scrapbook

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie and her two brothers at Grey Gardens, 1931

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie in front of Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY, 1936

Courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie at a social event in East Hampton

Courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie dressed for a weekend event at Princeton University

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie, 1940

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie and her signature look

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie at Grey Gardens in a picture taken by her mother, “Big Edie”

Photo credit: Edith Bouvier Beale: A Life in Pictures, courtesy Grey Gardens Collections

Little Edie and Big Edie, 1938