THE GLASS MENAGERIE

SIGNED First Edition, one of only 5000 first printing copies of this high spot of twentieth century drama. With The Glass Menagerie, Williams set out to create a new kind of "Plastic Theatre," a highly expressionistic language of the stage to replace what he saw as the stale conventions of realism. In theatrical terms, Williams's approach has been called Brechtian: It uses devices meant to create what the German playwright and dramaturge, Bertolt Brecht, (Threepenny Opera, Mother Courage and Her Children), called the "alienation effect." Williams succeeded, thereby revolutionizing American theater. Within two weeks of opening on Broadway in 1945, the play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play, catapulting Williams to fame. In the words of the citation, the award was offered "To Tennessee Williams for his play 'The Glass Menagerie' and its sensitive understanding of four troubled human beings" (New York Times).
8vo. Original publisher's russet cloth; spine stamped in black and gilt (faint dampstain to lower edges of covers, evidence of bookplate removal to front pastedown); original unclipped dust jacket (few small professional repairs verso, minor watermarks, spine panel gently sunned); morocco–backed folding box with hand–painted onlays of glass horses by the Dragonfly Bindery, whose unique custom-bound rare book boxes have been auctioned at the world's leading auction houses, notably Christie's. PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY WILLIAMS on front free endpaper: "For Lon Tinkle / Tennessee Williams". At the time this book was inscribed, Lon Tinkle was a book editor and critic with the Dallas Morning News. He went on to become an award–winning novelist focusing mainly on the Southwest and its history. Tinkle was also very active in the Dallas arts community by founding several art programs including the Margo Jones Theatre, the namesake of Margo Jones (1911–1955) who was the co–director of the acclaimed first staging of The Glass Menagerie which proved to be a breakthrough production for both her and Williams. Crandell A1.1.a. A highly collectible copy of this literary and dramatic landmark. Book #Pv1423. $6250. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.