The Quintessence of Nathanism

New York: Vrest Orton, 1930 One of only 300 copies. An essay on the renowned theatre critic George Jean Nathan (2/14/1882-4/8/1958). This is a special association copy. Nathan's widow, friends, and colleagues gathered on June 9, 1958, at the famed restaurant Twenty-One ("21") several months after his death. "Twenty-One" and the date are written on the endpaper followed by the signatures of Mary Grace Curley, John McClain, Dick Watts, Julie Haydon (Nathan's widow), Elinor Gibbs, Sam Zolotow, and Peter Kriendler. Curley was the wife of William Curley, managing editor of The New York Evening Journal; McClain was drama critic for the New York Journal-American and president of the New York Drama Critics' Cirlce from 1958 to 1960; Watts became drama critic for The New York Herald Tribune in 1936 then was theatre critic for the New York Post after World War II; Julie Haydon married Nathan in 1955. She was a film, stage, and television actress; Gibbs was the wife of Wolcott Gibbs, theatre critic for The New Yorker; Zolotow was a theatre reporter and columnist for The New York Times for many decades; Kriendler was the brother of the co-founder of "21" and he helped transform it from a speakeasy into a New York institution. Size: 8vo. Limited Edition.. Boards. Good Plus.