Widowers' Houses. A Comedy by G. Bernard Shaw. First Acted by the Independent Theatre in London by Shaw, George Bernard - 1893

London: Henry and Co, 1893 Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. First Edition, 1893, Good Condition: See Notes, Hardcover, Olive Green Buckram, Gilt Title, 8vo, 126 pp NOTES ON CONDITION: Good Condition; spine bumped, crease at the bottom right hand corner of the cover: see photo. Corner of the flyleaf has been cut off approx: 4cm x 5cm The First Published Play of George Bernard Shaw. Shaw's very scarce first play, published in an edition according to Laurence, of "not more than 500" copies. It was not an overwhelming bestseller. Shaw wrote to John Lane that the publisher "never advertised it even once; and the sale, which was only effected by great perseverance & determination on the part of the purchasers, was 150 copies." When the publisher retired in December 1897, they ceded to Shaw 194 sets of unbound sheets, which Shaw claimed to have commissioned Sotheran & Co. to bind for him. It is unlikely Shaw had all of the copies bound; a considerable number must eventually have been pulped . Shaw began working on his first play destined for production, Widowers' Houses, in 1885 in collaboration with critic William Archer, who supplied the structure. Archer decided that Shaw could not write a play, so the project was abandoned. Years later, Shaw tried again and, in 1892, completed the play without collaboration. Widowers' Houses, a scathing attack on slum landlords, was first performed at London's Royalty Theatre on 9 December 1892..