Scarce indeed in the wrapper

Coward, Noel ~ The Queen Was In The Parlour

First UK Printing : Ernest Benn Limited, London : 1926

The First UK Printing Published by Ernest Benn Limited, London in 1926. Volume L in the Contemporary British Dramatists series , as issued. 8vo., publisher’s blue cloth with paper labels printed in black to upper board and spine; this copy complete in the scarce publisher’s wrapper printed with decorative border to the upper panel and publisher’s device to the lower right hand corner; The BOOK is in near Fine condition, with ever-so-slight pushing to the spine ends and some offsetting to the endpapers; slightly spotted to the outer edge; The WRAPPER also in near-Fine condition, slightly toned to the upper edge and along the spine, with some light creasing and a couple of tiny nicks to the upper panel. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The Queen was in her Parlour is an early Noel Coward play, written in 1922 but not produced until the 24th August 1926, when it premiered at the St Martin’s Theatre in London. It was well received, with an article in The Times claiming "[This] is Mr. Coward in a romantic vein, and little else matters so long as the romance goes with a swing. This it does indeed." The play went on to run for 136 performances. The play was Coward’s first and only foray into the theme of Ruritanian romance, being set in a fictional European country. Later, he wrote that “Ruritania is a dangerous country where romantic clichés lurk in every throne-room...The whole play was illuminated by the magic of Madge Titheradge's acting. Her restrained emotion in the farewell supper scene ... and her stillness and dignity at the end of the play I shall always remember with loving gratitude.” The play was Coward’s eighth, and one of a series of comedies in his early career which included such others as Easy Virtue, Fallen Angels, Hay Fever, This Was A Man, Home Chat, and The Marquise. Each of these “had in common the impact of Continentalism on the stolid conservatism of Old England. Long and often very delightful passages of mutual abuse were to be found in the majority of these plays which were also masterpieces of padded wisecracking.” (Time Magazine). Scarce indeed in the dustwrapper.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Near Fine