CYRANO DE BERGERAC by ROSTAND, EDMOND - 1898

Paris: Eugène Fasquelle, 1898. FIRST EDITION, First Printing. 200 x 140 mm. (7 3/4 x 5 1/2"). 6 p.l, [13]-225 pp., [1] leaf (first and last leaves blank). Publisher's original light green paper wrappers, ENTIRELY UNOPENED. With early glassine wrapper. In a later cloth clamshell box. Rear cover with a hint of smudging and rumpling, a touch of fraying to tail of spine, but AN EXTREMELY FINE COPY, never read and little changed since the day it left the press. This is a remarkable unopened copy of Rostand's influential and enduringly popular verse play in five acts. A theatrical triumph from its opening night, "Cyrano" was quickly translated into multiple languages, and brought to English the untranslatable term, "panache." Rostand (1868-1918) wrote a number of successful plays, often, like "Cyrano," based on figures from French history. While copies appear on the market with some regularity, one is very unlikely to find one in closer to original condition than the present volume.