THE TRUE FIRST EDITION ~ SIGNED

Stoppard, Tom ~ Rock ‘n’ Roll : Signed By The Author

Faber and Faber Limited, London : 2006

The First UK printing published by Faber and Faber Limited, London in 2006. 8vo., original yellow card wraps, decorated with a cover design by 'AKA', featuring several black and white advertisements internally; a Fine, unread copy. The book is protected in a removable Mylar cover. The true first UK edition, which preceded the hardbound edition. This edition was prepared in advance of the hardback and was sold at the Royal Court Theatre where the play premiered on the 3rd June 2006. It contains contextual differences including having the "Royal Court' logo the to the spine, a cast list, cast biographies, details of future performances and more, all of which did not appear in the later Faber hardback edition. This copy delicately signed (without dedication) by Tom Stoppard to p. [i]. Spanning the years of 1968 to 1990, the plot follows on one hand a Rock 'n' Roll band who come to symbolise the resistance to the Communist regime, and of three generations within the family of a Marxist philosopher living in Cambridge, England. Stoppard was no doubt inspired by his own life in writing the book, which connects his Czech heritage and British identity. "In the end I think of it as hanging on a love story" Stoppard said in 2023, when the play was revised at its most recent iteration at Hampstead theatre in London, "[it is] a play that means a lot to me". A Guardian reviewer for the same performance called it a play which had an "exuberance of language and characteristically fizzing wordplay as well as dangerous and exciting comedy". Very scarce with such attributes. (Warner A18 a).

BINDING: Softcover
CONDITION: Fine