Coward, Noel ~ To-Night at 8.30 : Complete Set In Three Volumes

William Heinemann, London : 1936

The First UK printings published by William Heinemann, London in 1936. 8vo., 3 Vols.; dark purple cloth lettered in gilt to spine; embossed with publisher's device to lower covers; border in blind to upper boards; together in the publisher's wrappers, printed in blue and red; each priced '5/- net' to front flap; The BOOKS Very Good++ copies all, minimal spotting to edges and overall toning to the text-block due to the quality of the paper stock used ; the Very Good+ WRAPPERS toned in places, particularly along spine and folds, with some losses to the tips of spine and folds, with the largest to head of Vol II; and a couple of short closed tears; fragile; but unrestored internally. The wrappers are protected in removable Brodart archival covers. The collected set of nine one-act plays which first appeared in London in 1936 with Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in the starring roles. A tenth play, 'Star Chamber' was dropped after one performance. Part-comic, part-serious, the plays also featured music and songs written by Coward, who was keen to work with Lawrence after a positive public response to 'Private Lives'. In order, the plays depict: 'We were Dancing': a married woman who falls in love with a divorced man at a dance and plans to emigrate to Australia with him : 'The Astonished Heart' in which a psychiatrist falls in love with his wife's friend : 'Red Peppers': A husband and wife act bicker in between musical performances : 'Hands Across the Sea' caricaturing Coward's friends Lord Louis Mountbatten and his wife Edwina : 'Fumed Oak': A down-and-out salesman walks out on his family : 'Shadow Play': a marriage on the brink of collapse : 'Ways and Means': concerning an heiress and her gambling husband : 'Still life': a married man and a physician begin a love affair : 'Family Album': a Victorian family gathered together at the funeral of a patriarchal father. Scarce, both as a set and with their wrappers.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good++
JACKET: Very Good+