Waiting for Godot.: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts.
by BECKETT, Samuel
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Faber and Faber,, 1956. Rare inscribed copy, signed following a rehearsal for Happy Days First UK edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Michael Curtis Sam. Beckett. London, June '79". The recipient was Dr Michael Curtis, a correspondent whom the playwright had invited to view a technical rehearsal for Happy Days on 4 June during the rerun at Royal Court Theatre. Curtis befriended Beckett while collecting a substantial library of 20th-century literature, including many signed and inscribed copies. Beckett's own English translation of En attendant Godot (1952) was first published by the Grove Press in New York in 1954. The publisher's tipped-in notice explains that this first UK edition was subject to occasional textual deletions by the Lord Chamberlain and uses the version of the text as performed at the Criterion Theatre from 12 September 1955. The unexpurgated text was not published in the UK until 1965. The play premiered on 5 January 1953 at the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. "The extraordinary success of this first production in French was responsible for Beckett's rise to worldwide fame, as the play rapidly became an object of intense international interest and controversy" (ODNB). The English-language theatrical premiere took place on 3 August 1955 at the Arts Theatre, London. This copy later passed into the theatre collection of Clive Hirschhorn (b. 1940), who spent decades as the Sunday Express's film and theatre critic and whose various histories of Hollywood include The Warner Bros. Story (1978) and The Hollywood Musical (1981). Hirschhorn's ownership inscription is pencilled on the front pastedown. Octavo. Original yellow cloth, spine lettered in red. With dust jacket. Housed in custom black cloth folding box. Partial browning of free endpapers; bright, unclipped jacket with minor rubbing and single nick: a fine copy in like jacket.
Synopsis
Beckett's existentialist play portrays two men who are trapped in endless waiting for the arrival of someone named Godot. They spend their time bantering and conjecturing and trying to anticipate the time and method of arrival. "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful?"
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter Harrington (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 172530
- Title
- Waiting for Godot.
- Author
- BECKETT, Samuel
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- London: Faber and Faber,
- Date Published
- 1956
Terms of Sale
Peter Harrington
All major credit cards are accepted. Both UK pounds and US dollars (exchange rate to be agreed) accepted. Books may be returned within 14 days of receipt for any reason, please notify first of returned goods.
About the Seller
Peter Harrington
Biblio member since 2006
London
About Peter Harrington
Since its establishment, Peter Harrington has specialised in sourcing, selling and buying the finest quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets. Peter Harrington first began selling rare books from the Chelsea Antiques Market on London's King's Road. For the past twenty years the business has been run by Pom Harrington, Peter's son.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....