Yeats, W.B.

8vo, first english edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author to harley granville barker ("Granville Barker | from W B Yeats | May 29th 1904"),  original grey paper boards with green linen spine, white printed label on spine, all edges untrimmed, minor offsetting and browning

Granville Barker, inscription to him by Yeats, bookplate

Wade 56

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The King's Threshold first appeared in New York in March 1904, privately printed by John  Quinn to secure the American copyright..  On Balile's Strand first appeared in In the Seven Woods, an August, 1903 Dun Emer Press book printed in 325 copies. Yeats wrote in November 1904 "On Baile's Strand is the best play I have written".  

The actor, theatre director and playwright Harley Granville Granville-Barker (1877-1946: he acquired the hyphenated surname after his divorce in 1918) was a major influence on the English theatre for fifty years A good friend of George Bernard Shaw--for whom he was a surrogate son--he was working at the time of this inscription in 1904 to establish an English National Theatre, just as Yeats was working to strengthen the Irish National Theatre. Granville-Barker has been called "...perhaps the most remarkable threatre personality of this century [twentieth] and "...as a director...the first and greatest of the moderns." (DNB).

"He was an absolute genius to me...he was like a wonderful conductor of an orchestra, he knew exactl what not to bother with..." (John Gielgud, quoted in Oxford DNB)