- 511
ELIOT. THE COCKTAIL PARTY, DONALD HOUSTON'S ANNOTATED SCRIPT, SIGNED FIRST EDITION, AND THEATRE PROGRAMME, 1950 (3 VOL.)
估價
1,200 - 1,500 GBP
招標截止
描述
- Donald Houston's acting script for the first performance of The Cocktail Party at the Edinburgh Festival, 22-27 August 1949
- paper
printed typescript, 4to (253 x 188mm.), revisions, amendments, acting notes and underlinings in pencil and ink to 37 pages, including 2 pages (Act 1 p.24 and Act 4 p.21) crossed through entirely, 6 pages pasted over with new typed text, Peter's name underlined in pencil throughout, character list completed in blue ink with names of each actor apart from Peter Quilpe (Houston's role) and with further notes in pencil, in total 154 pages (numbered within acts), rectos only, each act separated by blank yellow sheet, final page of text torn out (removing most of the final exchange between Edward and Lavinia), original blue paper wrappers, cloth spine, printed paper label on upper cover ("The Cocktail Party by T.S. Elliot"), small loss to foreedge of Act 2 p.27, tear from upper left edge to centre of sheet of Act 3 p.36 and Act 4 p.16, label on upper cover faded, spine somewhat worn [with:] i) The Cocktail Party. Faber and Faber, 1950, 8vo, FIRST EDITION, second state (with "her" spelt correctly on p.29), PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED PRE-PUBLICATION TO DONALD HOUSTON ("To | Donald Houston | with the author's | gratitude | T.S. Eliot | 2.iii.50") on front free endpaper, half-title, original green cloth lettered in gold on spine, dust-jacket [Gallup A55], head and foot of spine a little soiled, dust-jacket in two pieces and lacking spine, worn at all edges ii) A programme for the first performance in London at the New Theatre, 3 May 1950, where Houston reprised his role as Peter Quilpe, original printed wrappers, small area of wear to upper wrapper, area of loss in lower wrapper (resulting from breaking the original seal)
來源
Donald Houston; by descent
Condition
Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where 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."
"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."
拍品資料及來源
"PETER QUILPE'S" WORKING SCRIPT FOR THE COCKTAIL PARTY, annotated and revised throughout. Welsh actor Donald Houston (1923-1991) played Peter Quilpe in The Cocktail Party when it premiered at the Edinburgh festival in August 1949. The play was produced by Henry Sherek and directed by Eliot's longtime collaborator E. Martin Browne. The cast also famously included Alec Guinness in the role of the "Unidentified Guest", who later that year was again cast alongside Houston again in A Run for Your Money.
The Cocktail Party was one of the great successes of the festival. In its review of the opening night performance the Manchester Guardian observed, "Mr Eliot has coated a bitter pill with much success... Eliot's difficult, extremely precise, and stoical thought has never been expressed with more clarity, and the result is remarkable" (23 August 1949). Peter Russell wrote how "considering the fact that the actors neither knew their parts well nor even professed to 'understand' them, only strengthens one's conviction that 'The Cocktail Party' will take its place with others of Mr Eliot's works, among the great achievements of our time" ('A Note on T.S. Eliot's New Play', in Nine, Autumn 1949, pp.28-29), whilst another contemporary reviewer described the cast as a "superb ensemble of English acting". The Cocktail Party went on to have successful runs in London (where Houston reprised his part) and on Broadway during 1950.
This acting script of course predates the first published edition, which appeared on 9 March 1950. The misprint "here" for "her" on the first line of p.29 was a mistake overlooked in the page proofs but corrected in the press, and, according to Gallup, "copies with and without the error were bound up and issued simultaneously. The first copy delivered to the publishers did not contain the error". Similarly this copy of the first edition, inscribed pre-publication by Eliot, has the mistake corrected.
The Cocktail Party was one of the great successes of the festival. In its review of the opening night performance the Manchester Guardian observed, "Mr Eliot has coated a bitter pill with much success... Eliot's difficult, extremely precise, and stoical thought has never been expressed with more clarity, and the result is remarkable" (23 August 1949). Peter Russell wrote how "considering the fact that the actors neither knew their parts well nor even professed to 'understand' them, only strengthens one's conviction that 'The Cocktail Party' will take its place with others of Mr Eliot's works, among the great achievements of our time" ('A Note on T.S. Eliot's New Play', in Nine, Autumn 1949, pp.28-29), whilst another contemporary reviewer described the cast as a "superb ensemble of English acting". The Cocktail Party went on to have successful runs in London (where Houston reprised his part) and on Broadway during 1950.
This acting script of course predates the first published edition, which appeared on 9 March 1950. The misprint "here" for "her" on the first line of p.29 was a mistake overlooked in the page proofs but corrected in the press, and, according to Gallup, "copies with and without the error were bound up and issued simultaneously. The first copy delivered to the publishers did not contain the error". Similarly this copy of the first edition, inscribed pre-publication by Eliot, has the mistake corrected.