A genuinely rare set

Stoppard, Tom ~ Jumpers : Three Volume Set : Two Vols. Signed By The Author

Faber and Faber, London: 1972 & Battley Brothers, London : 1972

8vos., 3 vols.; brick-red publisher's boards, lettered with decorative devices in gilt to spine; together in the vibrant clipped decorative wrapper; the wraps edition mimicking the same design, with integrated wrapper; the National Theatre programme tall card stapled wraps printed in blue, yellow and green, printed throughout in full colour with numerous advertisements and photographs; The BOOKS are all in near Fine condition, with a little marginal toning and shelf-wear,. A slight lean and some very light spots to the outer edges of the wraps edition with minor creasing along the spine; the theatre programme very slightly rubbed, with a very thin strip of toning to the upper edge of the cast list; The WRAPPER similarly near Fine. All volumes are protected in removable Brodart archival covers/sleeves. The first UK editions of Stoppard's 1972 absurdist comedy, with the casebound and wrappered editions issued simultaneously. This example comes together with the original programme for the first season at the National Theatre in 1972, containing an interview with Tom Stoppard, and with a cast list loosely laid in. Both the casebound edition and the cast list are signed (without dedication) by Tom Stoppard. Stoppard's interview is typically dismissive. When asked "Bearing in mind that this is an interview to go in the programme, is there anything you would like to say about 'Jumpers'" his response is simply "Not really". One of Stoppard's earliest plays, and his first full-length play after the success of 'Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead'. Stoppard here takes as his focus the field of academic philosophy, with his protagonist being a professor of ethics whose engagement with the deeper questions of life gets rather sidetracked due to the introduction of his trained hare, Thumper and the investigation of the death of a Professor of Logic, supposedly shot dead while performing gymnastics in his living room. Satirizing not only academics, but also philosophy, the moon landings and the Terra Nova expedition to the South Pole, the play is often thought of as being one of Stoppard's most popular and enduring works. It's opening, at the National Theatre in February 1972, caused some controversy when Diana Rigg made her entrance swinging onto the stage on the back of a papier-mâché moon while dressed in a rather revealing fishnet. A genuinely rare set. (Warner A5 a. 1a & 1b).

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Near Fine