The Admirable Crichton

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1918. Hardcover. Very good +. 12mo, 168pp. A single volume from the Uniform Edition of the Plays of J. M. Barrie. A crisp, clean copy, very good or better, in the publisher's blue cloth over thin boards. Spine label somewhat darkened and with a few nicks, but otherwise a nice example. This copy SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Barrie to influential theatre critic Barrett H. Clark on the front free endpaper: "Barrett H. Clark with kindest regard from J. M. Barrie Feb 1 1919." Housed in a custom contemporary blue cloth chemise and morocco-backed blue cloth slipcase, all very good with uneven sunning and some nicks too the spine. Clark, the critic, was a great admirer of Barrie. In fact, he wrote an article in the New York Sun (Oct. 30, 1918) with the headline: "The Superb Plays of Barrie in Print at Last." The lengthy editorial celebrates the plays of Barrie, closing with this: "How long will it be before Barrie is recognized as the master dramatist? [...] [It] is not in the library alone that Barrie will assume a position of honor, but on the stage, and there, long after 'Man and Superman' and 'The Second Mrs. Tanqueray' are forgotten, the coming generation, unless I am sadly mistaken, will relish the kindly humor and pathos of 'The Admirable Crichton.'" Signed copies of this play are uncommon (not to be confused with the limited illustrated edition, signed by the artist Hugh Thomson, and not by Barrie). This copy bears quite a pleasing association.