FROM THE COLLECTION OF LITERARY AGENT KENNETH EWING

Stoppard, Tom ~ Travesties : Signed By The Author

Faber and Faber, London : 1975

The First UK printing published by Faber and Faber, London in 1975. 8vo., dark green publisher's cloth, lettered in gilt to spine; together in the unclipped photographic wrapper ('£2.50 net' to the front flap) showing black and white images of John Wood as Henry Carr and Beth Morris as Cecily Carruthers, taken by Sophie Baker; The BOOK essentially is in near Fine condition ; The WRAPPER similarly so, with just barely-perceptible shelf wear. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. Signed by the author (without dedication) in blue ink to the front free blank endpaper. This copy formerly in the personal library of Kennth Ewing, though with no ownership markings. Stoppard's thirteenth play, which debuted at the Aldwych Theatre, London, on 10 June 1974, and was originally performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Drawing together the three central figures of Lenin, Joyce and Tristan Tzara, who were all living in Zurich during the Great War, Stoppard's plot focuses on Henry Carr, a British consular official who is asked to perform in Joyce's performance of 'The Importance of Being Ernest'. The play is based on real-life events, with Carr being a true consular official living at the time in Switzerland, and Wilde's play being staged by Joyce's short-lived theatre company, The English Players. The production led to an angry dispute between Carr and Joyce, which had ended in a legal battle in which the judge had ruled in favour of both disputants on different counts. In revenge, Joyce later portrayed Carr as a drunken, foul-mouthed soldier in his stage adaptation of Ulysses. Kenneth Ewing was a highly-influential literary agent who was responsible for nurturing the careers of a series of famous playwrights and novelists including John Osborne, Iris Murdoch and Tom Stoppard through his agency, Peters, Fraser and Dunlop. A wonderful example with an interesting literary association. (Warner A6 a).

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Near Fine
JACKET: Near Fine