Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand - 1898: A Heroic Comedy

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.

København [Copenhagen]: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag (F. Hegel & Son), 1890. First Edition. Decorative Cloth. Fine. First Printing of perhaps Ibsen's "most frequently performed play in the modern theatre." (PMM) In Danish (then the literary language of both Denmark and Norway). Foolscap 8vo: [4],236pp. Publisher's green cloth (copies were also identically bound in red, brown, and grey, no known priority), front cover elaborately blocked in gilt and black, back board with blind-stamped borders and central publisher's logo, floral patterned endpapers, gilt edges. A brilliant copy, barely rubbed to spine ends. PMM 375. First trade edition, preceded by twelve copies printed in London, in Norwegian, "under a well-intentioned illusion that this was necessary for copyright protection." (PMM) Published on December 16, 1890, although the play only premiered on January 31, 1891, at the Königliches Residenz-Theater, in Munich. Together with The Lady from the Sea and Rosmersholm, Hedda Gabler forms the… Read More

New York: Horace Liveright, Inc., 1931. Hardcover in slipcase. Good/No Jacket, as issued. SIGNED Presentation Copy in Slipcase, #524 of the special limited edition (501-550 were for presentation). Signed by O'Neill in black ink. Though not indicated, this volume is from the library of T. R. Smith, chief editor and adviser at Liveright throughout its heyday in the 1920s and responsible for publishing some of O'Neill's works (including an early volume of one-act plays and Strange Interlude in 1928). Trilogy of plays containing Homecoming, The Hunted, and The Haunted. Includes Working Notes and Extracts from a fragmentary work diary, facsimile pages inserted in rear pocket. Stained & spotted white vellum with beveled edges, gilt-stamping and black spine label. Scarce slipcase in fair condition with fragile & cracked edges and old tape repairs. Binding solid and untrimmed/uncut, but covers are rather spotted & darkened. O'Neill was a Puitzer and Nobel Prize winning American playwright, considered one of… Read More

The first collected edition of this wildly popular, but now mostly forgotten playwright's work. Susanna Centlivre was considered the second woman of English stage, after her contemporary Aphra Behn, and the most successful playwright of the 18th century. Her plays, including Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret, Perjur'd Husband, and Bold Stroke for a Wife remained in production for 200 years. With an engraved portrait frontispiece and including an account of her life.
London: J. Knapton et al, 1761. (xii), 376, 380, 372 pages. Each volume 12 mo, 11 x 17 x 3cm. First Edition. Mottled full calf binding with a little wear to spines and corners, red fore-edges. Fly leaves stained. Volume 1 has light damage to top of spine and loose front flyleaf. Volume 2 has light mark to the front board and minor loss to one page corner. All three volumes have a bookplate with name removed; second owner's name "J.W. Willett Merly House" written neatly above. Charming set of plays in very good condition.

New York: Random House, 1964 First edition, stated first printing. Boldly signed by Neil Simon directly on the second front-free endpage. Faint toning to endpapers and a shallow bruise to upper front corner, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with a shallow crimp along upper front cover, light wear to extremities, a tiny tear/crease to upper back cover, light tanning to spine, and mild foxing, primarily to back cover, else fine. A sharp copy.

Opened on Broadway (October 23,1963) at the Biltmore Theatre and closed on June 25, 1967, after 1,530 performances, Simon's longest-running hit, starring Robert Redford, Elizabeth Ashley, Mildred Natwick, and Kurt Kaszna, director Mike Nichols. The 1967 film version replaced Elizabeth Ashley with Jane Fonda.

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.

København [Copenhagen]: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag (F. Hegel & Son), 1890. First Edition. Decorative Cloth. Fine. First Printing of perhaps Ibsen's "most frequently performed play in the modern theatre." (PMM) In Danish (then the literary language of both Denmark and Norway). Foolscap 8vo: [4],236pp. Publisher's green cloth (copies were also identically bound in red, brown, and grey, no known priority), front cover elaborately blocked in gilt and black, back board with blind-stamped borders and central publisher's logo, floral patterned endpapers, gilt edges. A brilliant copy, barely rubbed to spine ends. PMM 375. First trade edition, preceded by twelve copies printed in London, in Norwegian, "under a well-intentioned illusion that this was necessary for copyright protection." (PMM) Published on December 16, 1890, although the play only premiered on January 31, 1891, at the Königliches Residenz-Theater, in Munich. Together with The Lady from the Sea and Rosmersholm, Hedda Gabler forms the… Read More

New York: Horace Liveright, Inc., 1931. Hardcover in slipcase. Good/No Jacket, as issued. SIGNED Presentation Copy in Slipcase, #524 of the special limited edition (501-550 were for presentation). Signed by O'Neill in black ink. Though not indicated, this volume is from the library of T. R. Smith, chief editor and adviser at Liveright throughout its heyday in the 1920s and responsible for publishing some of O'Neill's works (including an early volume of one-act plays and Strange Interlude in 1928). Trilogy of plays containing Homecoming, The Hunted, and The Haunted. Includes Working Notes and Extracts from a fragmentary work diary, facsimile pages inserted in rear pocket. Stained & spotted white vellum with beveled edges, gilt-stamping and black spine label. Scarce slipcase in fair condition with fragile & cracked edges and old tape repairs. Binding solid and untrimmed/uncut, but covers are rather spotted & darkened. O'Neill was a Puitzer and Nobel Prize winning American playwright, considered one of… Read More

The first collected edition of this wildly popular, but now mostly forgotten playwright's work. Susanna Centlivre was considered the second woman of English stage, after her contemporary Aphra Behn, and the most successful playwright of the 18th century. Her plays, including Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret, Perjur'd Husband, and Bold Stroke for a Wife remained in production for 200 years. With an engraved portrait frontispiece and including an account of her life.
London: J. Knapton et al, 1761. (xii), 376, 380, 372 pages. Each volume 12 mo, 11 x 17 x 3cm. First Edition. Mottled full calf binding with a little wear to spines and corners, red fore-edges. Fly leaves stained. Volume 1 has light damage to top of spine and loose front flyleaf. Volume 2 has light mark to the front board and minor loss to one page corner. All three volumes have a bookplate with name removed; second owner's name "J.W. Willett Merly House" written neatly above. Charming set of plays in very good condition.

New York: Random House, 1964 First edition, stated first printing. Boldly signed by Neil Simon directly on the second front-free endpage. Faint toning to endpapers and a shallow bruise to upper front corner, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with a shallow crimp along upper front cover, light wear to extremities, a tiny tear/crease to upper back cover, light tanning to spine, and mild foxing, primarily to back cover, else fine. A sharp copy.

Opened on Broadway (October 23,1963) at the Biltmore Theatre and closed on June 25, 1967, after 1,530 performances, Simon's longest-running hit, starring Robert Redford, Elizabeth Ashley, Mildred Natwick, and Kurt Kaszna, director Mike Nichols. The 1967 film version replaced Elizabeth Ashley with Jane Fonda.