Gertrude Lawrence as "Mrs. A": An intimate biography of the great star. By her husband

London: Odhams Press Limited, 1955. Cloth. Good+. FIRST UK EDITION, INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR. 8vo, with b/w frontispiece and plates. Original red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Spine sunned, bruising and wear to extremities, edges toned, a few spots. Inscribed by Aldrich in blue biro to ffep: "To Joan Gilbert—/ My most attractive interviewer on TV or anywhere—/ With thanks and best regards—/ Dick Aldrich/ London April 1955", Tony Chance's ex libris and 'librăris' labels to ffep, Times obituary clipping, for Gilbert, pasted to rear fep and pastedown. Else, clean and tidy. In supplied dust jacket: creased and frayed, chipped at extremities, amateur tape repair to reverse, but the fabulous front panel illustration remains bright. A pleasing association copy of Aldrich's best-selling memoir. Good+/ good-only From Aldrich's inscription it seems that Gilbert interviewed him in London in 1955, perhaps during a tour promoting his book. Richard Stoddard Aldrich (1902–1986) was an American theatrical manager "of great repute", who married Gertrude Lawrence in 1940, becoming her second husband. The couple remained together until her sudden and unexpected death from cancer in 1952. Joan Gilbert (1906-1991) was a British television presenter and personality, who was "'the face' of the BBC's longest running topical television show Picture Page (1936-1952)" (Charlesworth, 2018). She went on to write for the TV Mirror and appear "on the new wave of Women's Programmes on BBC Television such as About the Home" (Marcus, 2010). Like Lawrence, Gilbert was "effervescent and unpredictable" and a popular and provocative figure (ibid). Whilst first published in the US by Greystone Press in 1954 (in a much less fabulous dust jacket), the British edition was the first to feature Daphne Du Maurier's 'Foreword'. Du Maurier and Lawrence had become close when the actor played the lead in the author's play, September Tide (1948). In her foreword tribute, Du Maurier observed of her friend and lover: "An actress of instinct and impulse, of swift and sudden change, of ever-varying mood, she was herself a light that danced and swayed, that burnt, not with a dull lamp's steady glow, but with all the divine uncertainty of flickering candles on a Christmas tree" (Du Maurier, here). From the library of Tony M. Chance. A bibliophile and collector from Bromsgrove, Chance amassed a significant collection of signed modern literature, as well as history and arts books. He frequently extra-illustrated his books with related ephemera, often signed. Diane Charlesworth (2018) 'Female presence at the BBC: Uncovering the hidden history of Joan Gilbert (1938-1962),' paper at Doing Women's Film and Television History Conference IV, UoSouthampton; Laurence Marcus (2010) 'Joan Gilbert,' Teletronic Blog.