THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR'S SECOND PLAY ~ SIGNED

Stoppard, Tom ~ The Real Inspector Hound : Signed By The Author

Faber and Faber, London : 1968

The First UK printing published by Faber and Faber, London in 1968. 8vo., blue publisher's cloth, lettered in gilt to spine; together in the unclipped printed wrapper (with publisher's overlaid price sticker of '£1.00 net' to front flap); The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Ever-so-slightly rubbed to spine tips, and very faint offsetting to the endpapers; with previous owner's penned name and date to the lower front bank end-paper. The WRAPPER is in Very Good++ or better condition, with just a little toning to the edges with some nicking and very tiny losses to the upper edge. Some minor spotting around the foot of spine, slightly extending onto the panels. Still a superior example, with the wrapper protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The first hardback trade edition. This copy has been signed by the author without dedication to the title page. Together with a copy of the printed ticket for an event with Tom Stoppard at the Althorp Literary Festival laid in, for provenance. A short one-act play, released by Stoppard just two years after the success of 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'. The setting for this play is the drawing room of Muldoon Manor, where the body of a man is found face-down in front of his sofa. Containing a clever play-within-a-play scenario, Stoppard's plot follows two theatre critics, Moon and Birdboot, who through watching the play are drawn into their own muder-mystery situation. Christie's 'The Mousetrap' (now the longest-running play in the West End) had already been performed for 16 straight years when 'The Real Inspector Hound' was released, and it is thought to be Stoppard's sardonic inspiration behind it. In fact, the title refers directly to the surprising twist at the end of Christie's play, though the producers could not object to the name without drawing more attention to the intended surprise ending. The play debuted at the Criterion Theatre in London on 17 June 1968, starring Richard Briers as Moon and Ronnie Barker as Birdboot. Critics were generally positive, remarking on the humour and cleverness of the piece. Michael Billington, writing in 'The Guardian', pronounced it a performance which "plays brilliantly on the spectator's secret desire to enter the house of illusion". "If I weren't so scared of sounding like the pretentious Moon," he added, "I'd say Stoppard's play is a minor comic masterpiece about the theatrical process." Now one of the scarcest titles of Stoppard's to be found with such attributes. (Warner A2 a).

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