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WIDOWERS' HOUSES. A Comedy. First Acted by the Independent Theatre in London
by SHAW. GEORGE BERNARD
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Henry and Co. London. 1893. FIRST EDITION. Octavo. Original blue buckram, lettered in gilt. Housed in a custom green cloth slipcase and chemise. Small bookplate to front pastedown, related bibiliographic material pasted to endpapers. 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 (quoted in Laurence) 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. "So few of these [in purple cloth] in the Sotheran binding have turned up, however, that it is unlikely Shaw had all of the copies bound; a considerable number must eventually have been pulped â¦" Copies in green cloth have been noted as well, with no clear evidence of priority.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Paul Foster Books
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 9664
- Title
- WIDOWERS' HOUSES. A Comedy. First Acted by the Independent Theatre in London
- Author
- SHAW. GEORGE BERNARD
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Henry and Co. London. 1893
- Weight
- 0.00
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- Signed and inscribed books;
Terms of Sale
Paul Foster Books
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About the Seller
Paul Foster Books
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London
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Unbound
- A book or pamphlet which does not have a covering binding, sometimes by original design, sometimes used to describe a book in...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Buckram
- A plain weave fabric normally made from cotton or linen which is stiffened with starch or other chemicals to cover the book...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
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