SIGNED BY TOM STOPPARD

Stoppard, Tom ~ Night & Day : Signed By The Author

Faber and Faber, London : 1978

The First UK Printing published by Faber and Faber, London in 1978. 8vo., black publisher's boards, spine lettered in silver; together in the unclipped wrapper ('£3.95 net' to front flap), printed in black and red, with a photograph of the playwright to the lower panel; The BOOK is an excellent example, clean, square and bright with just one tiny bruise to the foot of spine; The WRAPPER is in near Fine condition, with some light toning to the edges. This copy has signed by Tom Stoppard in blue ink to the front blank endpaper. Formerly in the personal library of the literary agent Kenneth Ewing, though with no associated markings. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. Stoppard's late 1970s play, which ran for two years at the Phoenix Theatre in London. The costumes and set designs were produced by Carl Toms, whom Stoppard had met and befriended earlier on in the decade, and with whom he had had collaborated on a series of other plays including Jumpers (1972) and Travesties (1974). They would go on to work together on The Real Thing (1982), Jumpers , and Hapgood (1988), among several others. The present work is set in a fictional country in Africa, Kambawe, where a series of British reporters arrive to cover the story of the rebellion against the dictatorial President Mageeba. As a former journalist himself, Stoppard was well placed to comment on the nature of the press, the newspaper business, and the competitive world of reporters working alongside on the same story. The play won the Evening Standard Award for Best Play, with one reviewer writing at the time that "Stoppard can write about what is closest to his heart without sacrificing his natural dexterity. Passion and wit don't often go together, when they do we should applaud.” Kenneth Ewing was one of London's leading literary agents, whose clients included the likes of John Osborne, Iris Murdoch, and of course Stoppard himself. Under the agency 'Peters, Fraser and Dunlop', which he co-founded, Ewing was responsible for bringing these writers and playwrights to the forefront of the public consciousness. A wonderful copy, scarce signed. (Warner A9 a).

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Near Fine