Search Results: Drama from B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA

New York: Gotham Book Mart, 1973 First edition, first printing. Signed by Gorey on title page. Publisher's light gray paper wrappers; in the original black paper dust jacket, white paper label with Gorey's illustration of a black armless doll laid onto the front wrapper. About fine book with just a tiny crease to rear wrapper; fine unclipped dust jacket. Overall, an attractive and crisp copy. The Black Doll is Gorey's screenplay for an unproduced silent film. Like many of his works, the plot is set in a Victorian-esque setting. It tells the story of the black doll, a "PRO," or priceless ritual object, from the ancient Asian city of Glub (or Blug), which is sought after by various groups of people. The black doll figure is a recurring figure in Gorey's books, and makes appearances in The Listing Attic (1954), The Willowdale Handcar (1962), The Tunnel Calamity (1984), and The Raging Tide (1987). Gorey, a film buff particularly inspired by the works of Louis Feuillade,… Read More

Saint Paul: Graywolf Press, 1985 Introduction by Ralph Ellison. First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by Ellison on the title page: "For Harold F. Mays / That admirable book-sleuth with / pleasure / Sincerely / Ralph Ellison." Additionally signed by Charles Wright on p. 310. Publisher's green cloth-backed black boards stamped in gilt, black endpapers; original black dust jacket designed by Tree Swenson, lettered in green and yellow, photo of writing pad taken by Paul Boyer to front panel. Fine book; fine unclipped dust jacket. Includes near fine typed promotional letter, with horizontal folding crease, light creasing, and a hint of toning to edges. Overall, a pristine signed copy with a very nice association. Buying Time celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Literature Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. It brings together works from twenty-five well-known writers who benefited from fellowships and awards and were given, according to the book's… Read More

Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1982 First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by Beckett to Mel Gussow on title page: "For Mel Gussow / With all good wishes / Sam Beckett / 24.6.83." Publisher's original white wrappers, front wrapper and spine lettered in blue and black. About fine, with just some light toning to spine and edges. Overall, an excellent association copy, from Mel Gussow's personal library. In Catastrophe, an imperious director and his assistant prepare a man, who stands on an 18" black block with his eyes looking down, for the last scene of a dramatic performance. After making dehumanizing adjustments to the man's appearance, like stripping him down to his pajamas, they do a run through of the scene, which ends with the director exclaiming "There's our catastrophe! In the bag." They do one more run through, but this time the man raises his eyes defiantly to the crowd. Catastrophe, often interpreted as a… Read More

London: Faber and Faber, 1984 First edition thus. Presentation copy, inscribed by Beckett to Mel Gussow on title page: "For Mel / from his friend / Sam / Paris / July 1985." Publisher's original green, white, and gray patterned wrappers, with illustration of Beckett by Sue Linney to front wrapper, lettered in black and green. Near fine, with a few light marks and creases to edges of wrappers, very mild toning to spine, and edges of pages lightly toned. Overall, a lovely presentation copy. This copy comes from Mel Gussow's personal library. This volume contains twenty-nine of Beckett's shorter plays, including classics like All That Fall, Krapp's Last Tape, Embers, Acts Without Words, and Catastrophe. These shorter works are exemplary of Beckett's signature minimalism. According to Britannica, "Beckett's later works tended toward extreme concentration and brevity…. Such brevity is merely an expression of Beckett's determination to pare his writing to… Read More

Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980 Translated from the original English by the author. First French trade edition, first printing. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by Beckett to Mel Gussow on title page: "For Mel Gussow / With all good wishes / Sam Beckett / Paris / July 1982." Publisher's original white wrappers, front wrapper and spine lettered in blue and black. Near fine, with light toning to spine and edges, and a small patch of light surface damage to rear wrapper. Overall, a fresh and clean copy. This copy comes from Mel Gussow's personal library. Compagnie (Company) is a semi-autobiographical prose piece that tells the story of an older man lying on his back in the dark as an ethereal, unidentified voice narrates an extended third person monologue. As with many of the author's prose and dramatic works, Compagnie is lauded for its deconstructive form. Beckett, an Irish author and native English speaker, moved to France and subsequently transitioned from… Read More

New York: The Viking Press, 1949 First edition, first printing. Publisher's orange cloth, with an illustration of the play's stage setting and the spine lettering in brown, pictorial endpapers illustrated with a reproduced drawing of the play's stage setting by the play's original set designer Jo Mielziner; original first issue dust jacket with illustration of the protagonist Willy Loman designed by Joseph Hirsch. Near fine book with light toning to spine and edges, and slight lean to spine; very good unclipped dust jacket with light wear to edges, lightly nicked corners, a bit of chipping to spine ends. Overall, a vibrant copy without any fading. Death of a Salesman is Miller's best-known play, about Willy Loman, an aging traveling salesman who struggles financially and emotionally after losing his job. The plot was largely influenced by Miller's own experience as part of a prosperous immigrant family who achieved the American Dream only to be later devastated by the Great… Read More

London: Faber & Faber, 1958 First Faber paperback edition, first printing. Presentation copy; signed and inscribed by Beckett on the title page to Goucher professor and director of the fall 1965 production of Endgame: "For/ George B. Dowell/ with all good wishes from/ Samuel Beckett/ Paris March 1965." Original publisher's orange paper wraps, lettered in black and white. A very good copy with some light wear and rubbing to the extremities, first leaf starting, else near fine. Scarce signed by Beckett.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Original Wraps. Near Fine.

New York: Boni & Liveright, 1927 First edition, first printing. Original publisher's blue cloth, lettered in gilt; light blue dust jacket, lettered in black. Near fine with light fading and a touch of wear to the spine; dust jacket unclipped with some wear and shallow chips to the spine ends, spine lightly toned. Nobel laureate in Literature Eugene O’Neill’s play Marco Millions references the story of Marco Polo as a backdrop for a satirical comedy. Despite being set in the 1200s in faraway lands, O’Neill uses the play to criticize what he saw as the rampant materialism of his day. The character of Marco is inspired by both the author’s alcoholic father and the famous financier Otto Kahn. Kahn was a person O’Neill often used as a model in his work. The character Marco notably complains, "I hate idleness, where there's nothing to occupy your mind but thinking,” cuttingly implying that the elite class used finance as a diversion from their desolate internal… Read More

New York: The Viking Press, 1958 Illustrated with black and white photographs. First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed on front free endpaper from Oppenheimer to Dorothy Parker: "To Dorothy / With gratitude, love / and the hope that / she will like being / in here as much as / I like having her / in a book of mine. / Always, / George." Publisher's lavender boards, front board lettered and ruled in purple, spine with gilt lettering on purple label, and purple topstain; original pictorial dust jacket designed by Robert Hallock, lettered in white, blue, and pink. Very good with light toning to spine ends and board edges, light fraying to spine ends, and minor wear to lower corners; good unclipped dust jacket with chipping to spine ends, front flap detached (but present), chipping to rear panel corners and a chip to rear flap fore edge, light edgewear including a few small closed tears and a small chip to top of rear panel, and minor soiling to rear panel, unfaded panels… Read More

New York: Grove Press, [1957] (originally published in 1931), 1981 First American edition. One of 250 copies signed and numbered by Beckett on the limitation page, this being number 76. Publisher's brown cloth-backed white patterned paper-covered boards, with front board and spine lettered in gilt. Near fine, with light toning to spine and upper edges of boards, and just a hint of spotting to rear board. Overall, a beautiful copy, seemingly unread. From the personal library of American theater critic and friend of Beckett, Mel Gussow. Proust, Beckett's second published book, is a dense study of the French author Marcel Proust, which gives insight into Beckett's own burgeoning ideas on writing. Beckett wrote the essay in 1930 as a commission for Chatto & Windus' Dolphin Books series. In all, fourteen titles were published in the series, which only ran from 1930 to 1932. Beckett went on to write classic works like The Trilogy (Molloy; Malone Dies; The Unnamable) (1951-1953), Endgame… Read More

New York: New Directions, 1947 First edition, first printing. Publisher's lavender paper-covered boards designed by Alvin Lustig, lettered in black and white with an abstract illustration of three dancing figures; in the original matching dust jacket. Near fine book, with light toning to spine, light wear to head of spine, light offsetting to endpapers, previous owner's stamp to front pastedown, and a hint of waviness to top edges of ~15 pages at beginning of book; very good unclipped dust jacket, with some toning to spine and panel edges, front flap separated at fold but attached by clear tape on verso, light chipping to head of spine, a couple of small, faint spots of soiling to spine, and light edgewear. Overall, a very pleasing copy of Tennessee Williams' timeless play. A Streetcar Named Desire is the Pulitzer Prize winning play about the mental breakdown of the charming, yet troubled Southern belle Blanche DuBois, who runs away from her past by traveling to visit her sister Stella… Read More

New York: Grove Press, 1954 Translated from author's own original French. First American edition, first printing. Publisher's black cloth, with wraparound title in blind, spine lettered in gold and silver foil, red endpapers; in its original black and white dust jacket, with a photograph from a production of the play to front panel, and portrait of Beckett to rear panel. Fine book with just a minuscule spot of soiling to fore edge of text block; about fine unclipped dust jacket, with a touch of toning to spine and flap edges, and a tiny bit of rubbing to foot of spine. Overall, a truly excellent copy. Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play about two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who converse in witty and amusing banter while they wait for Godot, who ultimately never arrives. Beckett, an Irish author whose move to France was accompanied by his transition from writing in English to French, translated this text from its original French (published under the title En attendant Godot). The play… Read More

London: Faber and Faber [orig. published 1956], 1981 Later edition. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by Beckett on title page: "For Mel / With all good wishes / from Sam / Paris / 29.8.84." Publisher's white wrappers, with a drawing of a tree and hand by Sidney Nolan on front wrapper, printed in black. About fine, with just a hint of soiling to wrappers, and light toning to margins of pages. Overall, an excellent inscribed copy of Beckett's greatest work. This copy comes from the personal library of Mel Gussow. Waiting for Godot - originally written in French, under the title En attendant Godot - is an absurdist play about two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who converse in witty and amusing banter while they wait for Godot, who ultimately never arrives. The play premiered in Paris at the Théâtre de Babylone in January 1953. A theatrical masterpiece, Godot was voted the "most significant English-language play of the 20th century" in a poll of… Read More

New York: Grove Press, 1959 First American edition, first printing, cloth bound edition. Publisher’s black cloth with titles in gilt to spine; original black, white, and green dust jacket designed by Richard Brodney, black circle graphic to front panel, photo of Beckett by Brassaï to rear panel. Slight lean to spine and soiling to edges of text block, else fine book; about very good unclipped dust jacket with some soiling and rubbing to exterior, light toning to spine, some wear and shallow chipping to spine ends, lightly nicked corners, and a few chips and small closed tears to edges. Overall, a presentable copy with an unblemished interior. In Watt, the title character becomes a domestic servant for Mr. Knott, a mysterious and reclusive master. Watt, whose mind is logical to a fault, struggles to perform relatively simple tasks and ultimately ends up in a mental institution. It is theorized that Watt’s name represents the word “what” and Knott’s represents… Read More

London: John Calder, 1983 First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by Beckett to American theater critic Mel Gussow on title page: "For / Mel Gussow / With all best wishes / Sam Beckett / Paris / 24.6.83." Publisher's green cloth, with titles in gilt to spine; in its original white and green dust jacket, printed in black and green, with photo of Beckett to rear panel attributed to Jerry Bauer. Fine in an about fine unclipped dust jacket, with a tiny crease to top of rear panel, a light crease to top corner of rear flap, and a hint of toning to extremities. Overall, a beautiful copy with an excellent association. This copy comes from the personal library of Mel Gussow. Worstward Ho is Samuel Beckett's penultimate novella. From the jacket's description: "As so often before, Mr. Beckett has created magic, transforming the emptiest of voids and insubstantiality of material into a whole unforgettable world that will live with the reader and become… Read More