Typed Manuscript Signed

Prolific American playwright, novelist and screenplay writer ("Bride of Frankenstein" 1935, "Imitation of Life" 1934). TMS, 1p, 8½" X 11", n.p., n.y. [dated 1923 February 22 in pencil in another hand]. Very good. Quite mild age toning; four-punched at left margin, not affecting text. Page from "Act I" of Hurlbut's play "Hail and Farewell," which was filmed in 1925 under the title "The Heart of a Siren." This double spaced page notes "April 1870" and begins by setting the scene: "The scene is the terrace of a hotel at Nice, looking out to sea..." and proceeds with dialogue between Comtesse Chateauriand and Comtesse d'Avillier. Almost no handwritten corrections -- only several small pencilled grammatical changes. Along the bottom, in light black fountain pen, it is inscribed and signed: "This is a page from the first draft / of 'Hail & Farewell' you are more / than welcome to it if it will make / a part of your collection / William Hurlbut." From the collection of Albert Johannsen (1871-1962), a University of Chicago geology professor who authored "The House of Beadle and Adams and Its Dime and Nickel Novels" (University of Oklahoma Press, 1950), the definitive reference work and bibliography on the subject, and accompanied by Johannsen's original 8½" X 11" file folder, bearing a printed "Collection of Albert Johannsen" label (partly filled in by Johannsen).