Modern Drama from Lorne Bair Rare Books

London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head, 1893. First Edition. Hardcover. Small quarto (21.75cm.); original reddish-brown gilt-embossed cloth; [14],132,14[ads]pp. Straight and tight, with the boards slightly faded at margins as is typical, and a few spots where cloth has begun to lift. The text is slightly tanned, but foxing is contained to endpapers.… Read more

[Los Angeles]: Philosophical Research Society, 1972. First Edition. Paperback. Octavo (22.5cm.); publisher's green pictorial staplebound card wrappers; 80pp.; illus. throughout. Light wear to extremities, else Very Good or better. Includes the articles "Cabalistic Literature and the Zohar"; "The Kabuki Drama and the Elizabethan Stage"; and "The Hedgehog with Four Curls!" in a column devoted to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.… Read more

North Kildonan, Manitoba: Selbstverlag des Verfassers, 1950. First Edition. Paperback. Satirical play set in a community of Mennonite forest camp workers in Russia, by the Ukrainian-born author who immigrated to Manitoba in the 1920s, working as a newspaperman and author of numerous short works of fiction, the first examples of published works in the Mennonite Plautdietsch dialect. Slim 12mo… Read more

Steinbach, Manitoba: Selbstverlag des Verfassers, 1952. First Edition. Paperback. Collection of short plays and dialogues by the Russian-born Mennonite author who emigrated from present-day Ukraine to Manitoba in the 1920s, working as a newspaperman and author of numerous short works of fiction, the first examples of published works in the Mennonite Plautdietsch dialect. 12mo (ca. 19cm.); publisher's yellow printed… Read more

Boston: Four Seas Company, [1925]. First Edition. Paperback. 12mo; publisher's tan staplebound card wrappers printed in green; 24pp. Faint dampstain along bottom margin, closed tear at top inch of spine edge affecting upper cover and first few leaves though not approaching text, else Very Good and sound. Grim one act play featuring two characters, The Man and The Woman… Read more

New York: Robert McBride, 1921. First, Limited Edition. Hardcover. First printing. One of 1040 hand-numbered copies in the first edition. Small octavo. Cloth boards; dustjacket; 63pp. Tight, Near Fine copy, with text partially unopened. In the original printed dustwrapper, also Near Fine.

Boston: John W. Luce & Company, 1911. First American Edition. Octavo (19cm); one quarter cream paper-covered boards, with dark green paper sides, stamped in gilt; spine in six compartments, with black/gilt label; 111pp. Spine tanned, crown slightly chipped; mild wear and soiling to boards, with minor bumps and rubbing to extremities. Textblock toning along extremities and margins, else clean;… Read more

New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1958. First Edition. Octavo (21cm); one quarter white cloth, with black cloth sides, green titles on spine; orange and green dustwrapper; 3-278pp. Dustwrapper sunned, especially along spine; extremities chipped, with small tears and areas of minor material loss; shelf wear and soiling. Textblock edges foxed, preliminaries toned; publisher's comment card laid-in. Very Good in… Read more

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1909. First Trade Edition. Octavo (18.5cm); dark red cloth, stamped in gilt; TEG; 174+[4]pp. Boards show minor handling wear, with rubbing to extremities (especially heel of spine). Textblock slightly toned, spots of foxing throughout; deckled edges; birthday card w/ inscription laid-in. A Very Good or Better copy. Louis Ledoux drew inspiration for this… Read more

Providence: Booke Shop, [1938]. First Edition. Hardcover. Collection of essays by the Brown University professor on state-controlled theaters across Europe with special emphasis on those in the Soviet Union. This a superlative copy. Octavo (23cm.); publisher's cloth in orange printed dust jacket; [10],105pp. Jacket spine a bit sunned, light spotting to top textblock edge, else a Fine copy. Upper… Read more

New York: Arrow Editions, 1935. First, Limited Edition (1500 copies). Octavo (22cm); dark red cloth, stamped in foil; color frontispiece by Ben Shahn; 36pp, frontis. Light soiling and wear to boards; textblock fore edge deckled, toning to page margins with light foxing intermittent throughout. Overall Near Fine, without dustwrapper. E.E. Cummings' Tom is the author's avant-garde attempt to… Read more

New York: Random House, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. Distinguished copy of Ford's stage adaptation of Faulkner's 1951 novel, written in the form of a three-act play, with each act preceded by a narrative section. Ford removed the narrative sections, and revised the remainder of the novel for dramatic unity. Inscribed to Harlan Phillip Kleiman, screenwriter, Broadway producer, and co-founder… Read more

New York: Random House, 1966. Reprint. Octavo (21cm); black publisher's cloth, stamped in blind (front) and gilt (spine), in red dustwrapper; 116pp, frontis., 2 plates. Dustwrapper mildly soiled, with some creasing, chips, and short tears to extremities; large chip w/ material loss to front lower edge; $10.95 price intact on inner panel; textblock edges lightly foxed, marked on bottom.… Read more

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923. First Edition. Octavo (19.5cm); dark green publisher's cloth, stamped in blind and gilt (spine); 145pp. Wear, minor soiling to boards; spine sunned, gilt faded; textblock foxed throughout, top edge dust-soiled; some threads visible between signatures but bindings still sound. Ownership inscription on ffep (dated 1924). Overall Very Good. Adapted from one of… Read more

St. Louis: Cooperative Publication Association / Bethany Press, [1962]. First Thus. Paperback. Octavo (21.5cm.); publisher's decorative card wrappers; 127pp. Minor toning and shelf wear, else Very Good and sound. Collection of one-act plays first aired on the CBS non-denominational religious television show "Look Up and Live.

Mazenod, Basutoland: Catholic Centre, [1966]. Paperback. 12mo (18cm.); publisher's photo-illustrated staplebound card wrapeprs; 116pp. A hint of shelf wear and dust-soil, else Fine. Sesotho-language play first published in 1950, though the author is best known for his novel "Mopheme," addressing problems that arise from polygamy while based on the story of "The Scarlet Pimpernel." (See Nhlanhla Maake, "Watermarks in… Read more

Flint: Bamberger Books, 1993. First, Limited Edition. Paperback. A late dramatic work by Elmslie (b. 1929), best known as a central figure in the New York East-Side poetry scene of the Sixties, during which time he edited and published Z, the seminal journal of the New York School poets including James Schuyler, Joe Brainerd, John Ashbery et al. The… Read more

[Praha: Vydal Devetsil, 1924]. Second Edition. Paperback. Slim octavo (22cm.); publisher's white pictorial wrappers, yapp edges; 61pp. Wrappers rather chipped and worn, especially along spine, repaired shallow loss at bottom edge of upper cover, general dust-soil, some foxing to rear cover, textblock slightly toned, else Good to Very Good. Earliest edition of the author's first play to be issued… Read more

[Praha: Vydal Devetsil, 1924]. Second Edition. Paperback. Slim octavo (22cm.); publisher's white pictorial wrappers printed in orange, yapp edges; 48pp. Wrappers rather chipped and worn, rear cover separated but present, the whole rather dust-soiled; Good overall, though internally about fine. This edition issued by the leading Czech avant-garde publishing house Devetsil, upper cover designed by the prolific Surrealist artist… Read more

Mexico: A. Vanegas Arroyo, n.d., but after 1917. Reprint. Paperback. 12mo (14.5cm.); publisher's pictorial self-wrappers printed in black; 9pp. Minor toning, else Near Fine. Cover illustration signed by Posada in image. Forms part of the series Galeria Infantil de Teatro. Presumed reprint, the rear cover advertisements for the estate of Vanegas Arroyo, who died in 1917.