1905-1919 Works of George Bernard Shaw

Description

Publishers' Original Binding

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was an Irish playwright, with his most renowned works including 'Man and Superman', 'Pygmalion' and 'Saint Joan'; he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. He was influenced by the realism of Henrik Ibsen's plays, injecting social, political and moral meanings into his works. He penned over sixty plays. 

These volumes of Shaw's plays were owned by Esme Percy (1887-1957), an English thespian who specialised in George Bernard Shaw's plays; he later appeared in forty films, including 'Murder!', 'Lord Edgware Dies', and of course, 'Pygmalion'.

Two volumes contain the ownership inscription of George Bancroft (1882-1956), a notable American film actor

Percy has profusely annotated these volumes, using a coloured pencil to underline and make notes. The rear pastedown of Androcles and the Lion has been annotated profusely, and his ownership inscription, among those of others, features heavily throughout the endpapers and pastedowns. 

The works also contain a number of theatrical pieces of interest: an envelope from a Birmingham-based theatre, a typewritten list of lines and a flyer advertising the plays of Bernard Shaw in Paris, most likely during the 1930s.

Volume I of 'Plays: Pleasant and Unpleasant' contains a frontispiece illustration of the author.

‘Androcles and the Lion’, ‘Overruled’ and ‘Pygmalion’ was published in 1916. Contains a leaflet for the Theatre Albert 1er, Paris, demonstrating that these plays were due for performance, directed by Irenee Mauget.

‘The Doctor’s Dilemma’, ‘Getting Married’ and ‘The Shewing Up of Blanco Posnet’ was published in 1913. With a number of contemporary ownership inscriptions to the front pastedown.

‘Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant’ Volume I was published in 1905, and is illustrated with a frontispiece of the author. A plate later on in the volume is loose.

‘Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant’ Volume II was published in 1911.

‘Heartbreak House’, ‘Great Catherine’ and ‘Playlets of the War’ was published in 1919.

‘Three Plays for Puritans’ was published in 1911.

‘Misalliance’, ‘The Dark Lady of the Sonnets’ and ‘Fanny’s First Play’ was first published in 1914. It contains an envelope from The Kingsway Theatre, Birmingham, and a typewritten list of lines.