Théâtre de l'Hermitage de Catherine II - 1798 - RARE ORIGINAL by Catherine II - 1798

London: Secker & Warburg, 1973 First printing of the first U.K. edition. Publisher's black cloth and dust jacket with £2.50 price, Octavo, 163pp.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s copy (Who wrote the forward), with his armorial bookplate on front-free-endpaper (also, loosely laid-in is an auction card for The Estate of Douglass Fairbanks, Jr.

Signed and inscribed by Harold French to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who wrote the Foreword.

Light bump to upper board edge, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with mild edge wear, light tanning to spine, and a bit of age-toning to top edge of flaps, else dust jacket in fine condition.

Unique, signed-association copy , scarce thus.

London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.. Good in Good dust jacket. 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. vii, 208 p. 22 cm. Sound and square binding, with royal blue cloth-covered boards. Blind stamped on upper board, gold titles on spine. Some wear to corners and spine ends. Top edge of spine faded. A few small spots on boards. Various degrees of foxing to the endpapers, most preliminary pages (including title page) , some of the plates, and on the fore-edge. Previous owner's name and date on the front free endpaper. Page paper lightly toned. Some pencil underlining and notes on pages 27 to 43. Dustjacket has heavy edge wear, with chips, creases, and tears. Some overall soiling with a couple of moisture marks. Edges, folds and spine have darkened, the spine heavily. Not price clipped. The first book by Canadian writer Robertson Davies, based on his university thesis, in which he discusses the use of young male actors in the roles of women in Elizabethan Shakespearean productions. Still… Read More

New York : Boni & Liveright, Inc., 1927. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Green Cloth. Very Good/Near Fine Dustjacket. 8 3/8 " High. Three Different Editions: A Fine Copy Of The Signed Limited First Edition Of The Book, Signed By O'neill, In A Near Fine Original Slipcase. Also Included Is The First Trade Edition, Near Fine In A Near Fine, Unfaded Dust Jacket, Not Price-Clipped. Also Included Is A Unique Copy Of The Third Printing, February 1928, The Printing Just Before The First Production Of The Play, At The Pasadena Playhouse. Prepared By Or For Claude D. Seaman [Of The Standard Lighting Company, Los Angeles], With His Name On Front Endpaper Carefully Blocked In Ink. Printed Heading, By Hand, On First Blank "World Premiere/ Of O'neill's/ "Lazarus Laughed"/ Pasadena Community Playhouse/ April 9 - 1928"; Repeated On Verso; Half Title With Line For Author's Signature [But He Was Not Present And This Line Is Thus Blank]; Verso With "World Premiere..."… Read More

1854 Shakespeare Macbeth Taming of Shrew Hamlet Romeo & Juliet 6v SET

"What light through yonder window breaks."
– Shakespeare

This beautiful collection of the works of William Shakespeare is a fantastic gathering of some of the most famous and important plays and poetry by the most prolific English playwright. This beautiful, six-volume set was published in New York, revised by Isaac Reed who used the famed editions of Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. Like many collected works, this set features the famed plays such as 'Tempest', 'Taming of the Shrew', 'Hamlet', and 'Macbeth'.
Item number: #15670
Price: $795
SHAKESPEARE, William
The dramatic works of William Shakspeare : with the corrections and illustrations of Dr. Johnson, G. Steevens, and others
New York : Harper & Bros., Publishers, 1854.

Details:

· Collation: Complete with all pages – 6 volumes
o
Vol. I – 524
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Vol. II – 544
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Vol. III – 518
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Vol. IV – 538
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Vol. V – 518
o
Vol. VI – 617, [1]
·… Read More

New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1931. First. Near Fine/Good. A near fine copy in burgundy cloth with paper title label on spine Signed by Pirandello on ffep but no other marks at all Minor darkening to endpapers Unclipped DJ has some edge wear and chipping, but overall good Works signed by this Nobel laureate are exceedingly scarce, particularly in dust jacket From Wikipedia: Luigi Pirandello (1867 â€" 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre" He was an Italian nationalist and supported Fascism in a moderate way, at one point giving his Nobel Prize medal to the Fascist government to be melted down as part of the 1935 Oro alla Patria [it] ("Gold to the Fatherland") campaign during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays,… Read More

Boston, New York, London: Lamson, Wolffe and Company, 1898. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine+. First English Edition, inscribed in an elegant hand by the translator on front fly-leaf: "Compliments of / Howard Thayer Kingsbury / November, 1898." Small 8vo: 241,[1]pp. Publisher's original red cloth lettered and decorated in silver to spine and upper board, with frontispiece portrait (tissue guard still present) of the actor Richard Mansfield in costume. A Near Fine or better, spine slightly faded (though silver remains bright) and darkened page edges. Very scarce, particularly in this condition. Cyrano de Bergerac was first published in France by Charpentier et Fasquelle in 1898 (following its stage production at the Porte Saint-Martin Theater in Paris on December 28, 1897), and first translated into English by Kingsbury for Lamson, Wolffe the same year. Mansfield was the first actor to play Cyrano in the United States in an English translation. The play is based loosely on the life of Savien de… Read More

Chicago, Illinois:: Theodora Press,, 1991.. Edition of 10. 7.5 x 13.25"; 28 pages. Accordion fold. 15 hand-colored etchings. Letterpress titling, ornaments, and colophon. Printed on Rives lightweight. Bound in a top-fold accordion with gatefold opening. Signed and numbered by the artist. Teresa Pankratz: "'Pas de Deux' is a visual narrative depicting a couple's frustrated attempt at intimacy. Bound by self-imposed constrictions, they reach out - but never quite touch. "This tale was inspired by a performance piece entitled 'Nothing Up Your Sleeve' performed by Nan Shineflug and Jeff Abell of the Chicago Moving Company (one of the first modern dance troupes in the Midwest)." The French pun - pas de deux as dance duet for two, and pas meaning not - underscores the point. The beauty of the etchings and the delicacy of the construction turn what might have been a vaudeville skit into a poignant story.

NY: DBS Pubications, 1958. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 1958 Stated FIRST Printing of this very rare edition. In VG+/VG condition. The HB has a previous owner stamp on the ffep. Otherwise with bright, tight orange boards & top stain. Filled with B/W photos from the Broadway musical. The DJ is price-clipped but clean & bright/. There is minor edge wear. A classic!

, circa 1850; 8" x 12 1/2" original 19th c. holographic manuscript of the first act of an unnamed stage play set amidst the inhabitants of Gordon Mansion, a prosperous Virginia Plantation. In an opening vignette a group of slaves lie about resting and singing when two, Sambo and Dulcimer, become engaged in name-calling, which quickly turns into a fight. A field boss arrives to break it up and drive them back to work with the crack of a whip. The story proper concerns an educated black slave by the name of Harry who is appointed overseer of the estate by Col. Gordon upon his deathbed and entrusted with the safekeeping of the Colonel’s daughter Nina. The Colonel then reveals that he, Harry, is his eldest son, thus making Nina Harry’s half sister. Harry gives his word he will carry out the Master’s wishes. Harry and Nina have been unexplainably close, and with his newfound knowledge Harry is torn between his desire to divulge to Nina the truth of their relationship, or keeping it… Read More

Copy of the the original playbill of the first performance of "Seven Keys to Baldpate." The play premiered on Broadway on September 22, 1913 at the Astor Theatre and ran for 320 performances. This 1913-14 play by George Cohan is based on a novel by Earl Derr Biggers. The dramatization was one of Cohan's most innovative plays. It became a hit, running for nearly a year in New York, another year in Chicago and receiving later revivals; Cohan starred in the 1935 revival. Cohan adapted it as a film in 1917, and it was adapted for film six more times, and later for TV and radio. Bound in full leather. NF condition. Rare.