Théâtre de l'Hermitage de Catherine II - 1798 - RARE ORIGINAL by Catherine II - 1798

London: Secker & Warburg, 1973 First printing of the first U.K. edition. Publisher's black cloth and dust jacket with £2.50 price, Octavo, 163pp.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s copy (Who wrote the forward), with his armorial bookplate on front-free-endpaper (also, loosely laid-in is an auction card for The Estate of Douglass Fairbanks, Jr.

Signed and inscribed by Harold French to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who wrote the Foreword.

Light bump to upper board edge, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with mild edge wear, light tanning to spine, and a bit of age-toning to top edge of flaps, else dust jacket in fine condition.

Unique, signed-association copy , scarce thus.

London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.. Good in Good dust jacket. 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. vii, 208 p. 22 cm. Sound and square binding, with royal blue cloth-covered boards. Blind stamped on upper board, gold titles on spine. Some wear to corners and spine ends. Top edge of spine faded. A few small spots on boards. Various degrees of foxing to the endpapers, most preliminary pages (including title page) , some of the plates, and on the fore-edge. Previous owner's name and date on the front free endpaper. Page paper lightly toned. Some pencil underlining and notes on pages 27 to 43. Dustjacket has heavy edge wear, with chips, creases, and tears. Some overall soiling with a couple of moisture marks. Edges, folds and spine have darkened, the spine heavily. Not price clipped. The first book by Canadian writer Robertson Davies, based on his university thesis, in which he discusses the use of young male actors in the roles of women in Elizabethan Shakespearean productions. Still… Read More

London: William Pickering, 1825. Hardcover. Very Good. 3.5" x 2" Miniature edition of t he Plays of Shakespeare in 9 volumes, in custom slipcase. Vol 1: [vi] 306 p.p.; vol 2: 279 p.p; vol 3: 294 p.p; vol 4: 326 p.p; vol. 5: 321 p.p.; vol. 6: 348 p.p.; vol. 7: 320 p.p.; vol. 8: 315 p.p.; vol. 9: 279 p.p. [liv]. Full green morocco bindings, with some wear and scuffs. Spine rebacked with new black leather with original spine laid down on volume 1 only. Gilt titles on spines and gilt ruling on inner edges. 38 B&W plates, incl. frontis. engraved by Augustus Fox, from a picture painted by T. Stothard R.A. from the rare print by Droeshout. Browning to pages and illustrations, sporadic light foxing throughout. Water staining to volume 6, not affecting text. William Pickering was an English publisher notable for introducing cloth binding to British publishing. Dedicated to Earl R.H. George John Spencer, the 2nd Lord Spencer, noted for his interest in literature, particularly early examples of printing.… Read More

Title page, 20 hand-coloured engraved plates with corresponding pages of explanatory text. Twenty fine hand-coloured engraved portraits by R. Cooper of famous contemporary actors and actresses after paintings by Harlow, Sharp, Clint, De Wilde, Waldeck, and others.Actors include Sarah Siddons as Lady Macbeth, Edmund Kean as Richard III, ballerinas Mlle. Lisa Noblet and Mlle. Felicite Hullin, ballet dancer Etienne Le Blond, opera singer Giuseppe de Begnis, Samuel Simmonds as Baron Munchausen, Henry Gattie and Mme. Maria Theresa Bland in the farce Monsieur Tonson, Sarah Booth, Frances Copeland, Charles Young, etc.Daniel Terry (1780-1829) was an English actor and friend of Sir Walter Scott, many of whose novels he adapted for the stage.Condition: Half honey-coloured leather binding with five raised bands, gilt leather title label, marbled boards. Interior clean and bright with fine hand-colouring, slight discoloration to title page.

1854 Shakespeare Macbeth Taming of Shrew Hamlet Romeo & Juliet 6v SET

"What light through yonder window breaks."
– Shakespeare

This beautiful collection of the works of William Shakespeare is a fantastic gathering of some of the most famous and important plays and poetry by the most prolific English playwright. This beautiful, six-volume set was published in New York, revised by Isaac Reed who used the famed editions of Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. Like many collected works, this set features the famed plays such as 'Tempest', 'Taming of the Shrew', 'Hamlet', and 'Macbeth'.
Item number: #15670
Price: $795
SHAKESPEARE, William
The dramatic works of William Shakspeare : with the corrections and illustrations of Dr. Johnson, G. Steevens, and others
New York : Harper & Bros., Publishers, 1854.

Details:

· Collation: Complete with all pages – 6 volumes
o
Vol. I – 524
o
Vol. II – 544
o
Vol. III – 518
o
Vol. IV – 538
o
Vol. V – 518
o
Vol. VI – 617, [1]
·… Read More

Chicago, Illinois:: Theodora Press,, 1991.. Edition of 10. 7.5 x 13.25"; 28 pages. Accordion fold. 15 hand-colored etchings. Letterpress titling, ornaments, and colophon. Printed on Rives lightweight. Bound in a top-fold accordion with gatefold opening. Signed and numbered by the artist. Teresa Pankratz: "'Pas de Deux' is a visual narrative depicting a couple's frustrated attempt at intimacy. Bound by self-imposed constrictions, they reach out - but never quite touch. "This tale was inspired by a performance piece entitled 'Nothing Up Your Sleeve' performed by Nan Shineflug and Jeff Abell of the Chicago Moving Company (one of the first modern dance troupes in the Midwest)." The French pun - pas de deux as dance duet for two, and pas meaning not - underscores the point. The beauty of the etchings and the delicacy of the construction turn what might have been a vaudeville skit into a poignant story.

Volume 7 only of the 10-volume collection of stage portraits from the mid-19th century.Title page with vignette and 83 (of 100) handcoloured lithographic plates of actors, opera singers and ballet dancers in costume of their roles by Alexandre Lacauchie, Victor Dollet and Louis Lassalle, lithographed by Decan and Destouches, Paris.Includes the famous Italian ballerinas Fanny Cerrito and Caroline Rosati, French dancer Marie Guy-Stephan, actress Mlle. Alphonsine, soprano Marie-Charlotte Lemercier, and many more mid-century stars.Missing plates 601 603 606 607 609 614 619 625 637 638 670 671 674 675 681 697 and 700.The series was published from 1844-1870 in 10 volumes with 1,000 plates.Condition: Half red buckram split on the gutter, marble boards scuffed, but plates bright and vivid with fine handcolour, a few slightly spotted.Considered to be the most important French artists gallery of the 19th century.Alexandre Lacauchie (1814-1886) was a French painter, engraver and lithographer. Jean Francois… Read More

New York: Horace Liveright, Inc., 1931. Hardcover in slipcase. Good/No Jacket, as issued. SIGNED Presentation Copy in Slipcase, #524 of the special limited edition (501-550 were for presentation). Signed by O'Neill in black ink. Though not indicated, this volume is from the library of T. R. Smith, chief editor and adviser at Liveright throughout its heyday in the 1920s and responsible for publishing some of O'Neill's works (including an early volume of one-act plays and Strange Interlude in 1928). Trilogy of plays containing Homecoming, The Hunted, and The Haunted. Includes Working Notes and Extracts from a fragmentary work diary, facsimile pages inserted in rear pocket. Stained & spotted white vellum with beveled edges, gilt-stamping and black spine label. Scarce slipcase in fair condition with fragile & cracked edges and old tape repairs. Binding solid and untrimmed/uncut, but covers are rather spotted & darkened. O'Neill was a Puitzer and Nobel Prize winning American playwright, considered one of… Read More

, circa 1850; 8" x 12 1/2" original 19th c. holographic manuscript of the first act of an unnamed stage play set amidst the inhabitants of Gordon Mansion, a prosperous Virginia Plantation. In an opening vignette a group of slaves lie about resting and singing when two, Sambo and Dulcimer, become engaged in name-calling, which quickly turns into a fight. A field boss arrives to break it up and drive them back to work with the crack of a whip. The story proper concerns an educated black slave by the name of Harry who is appointed overseer of the estate by Col. Gordon upon his deathbed and entrusted with the safekeeping of the Colonel’s daughter Nina. The Colonel then reveals that he, Harry, is his eldest son, thus making Nina Harry’s half sister. Harry gives his word he will carry out the Master’s wishes. Harry and Nina have been unexplainably close, and with his newfound knowledge Harry is torn between his desire to divulge to Nina the truth of their relationship, or keeping it… Read More

Copy of the the original playbill of the first performance of "Seven Keys to Baldpate." The play premiered on Broadway on September 22, 1913 at the Astor Theatre and ran for 320 performances. This 1913-14 play by George Cohan is based on a novel by Earl Derr Biggers. The dramatization was one of Cohan's most innovative plays. It became a hit, running for nearly a year in New York, another year in Chicago and receiving later revivals; Cohan starred in the 1935 revival. Cohan adapted it as a film in 1917, and it was adapted for film six more times, and later for TV and radio. Bound in full leather. NF condition. Rare.