The Moonstone: A Dramatic Story, in Three Acts

[London]: Charles Dickens & Evans, Crystal Palace Press, 1877 . First edition. Leather. Near Fine. 7.5" by 5.5". None. A beautiful example of Wilkie Collins's very scarce stage adaptation of 'The Moonstone', a work never widely published, and 'privately printed for the convenience of the Author'. In a beautiful Riviere solander box. A very scarce work, adapted by Collins himself - with the aid of Charles Dickens - from his enormously successful 1868 novel.In the publisher's original paper wraps.The work is held in a cloth chemise and housed in a beautiful signed half crushed morocco solander box by Riviere.Wilkie Collins's important early detective novel was an impressive work which set many of the ground rules for the modern mystery genre. It was initially serialised in Charles Dickens's periodical 'All the Year Round'.In an effort to capitalise on the success of his work, Collins adapted the novel for the stage, with the title page identifying that 'This Play is not published. It is privately printed for the convenience of the Author'.This stage adaptation is arranged in four acts, and was performed at the Royal Olympic Theatre from the 17th September to the 17th November, 1877. This adaptation was perhaps oversimplified, with Collins omitting the characters of Rosanna Spearman, Ezra Jennings, and the Indian jugglers. Furthermore, he restricted the action to a twenty-four hour period.The cloth chemise bears the morocco bookplate of W.A. Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey.Immensely popularly when first published, 'The Moonstone' was a prime example of Victorian sensation fiction. The production, however, failed to achieve the success that the novel experienced, and two key players left the cast before the end of the run. In the publisher's original plain blue paper wraps. Housed in a fine signed half crushed morocco solander box from Riviere, with cloth covered boards, and gilt detailing to the back strip, and in a fine later cloth chemise. Faint handling marks to paper wraps, with a very small diagonal fold to the head of the front wrap, and light spotting to front joint. Internally, firmly bound. Pages exceptionally bright, with only one or two very light instances of spotting. Near Fine