Anti-war play inscribed by the British fighter ace, author, founding executive of the BBC, and translator of the present work Cecil Lewis (1898-1997) to the playwright, author, and producer Lawrence Langer (1890-1962). In black ink on the front free endpaper: “For / Lawrence Langner / 12.1.30 / Cecil Lewis”. Langer has subsequently annotated the book in pencil to virtually every text page, preparing it for a stage adaptation. These extensive annotations mostly consist of deletions, with large sections of dialogue crossed through and a significant number of new words and part-sentences added in manuscript. These alterations certainly appear quite brutal (perhaps a comment on Lewis’s translation!), although, arguably, the text does feel less cumbersome and the dialogue flows more naturally as a result.
Born in Swansea, Langer spent most of his working life in the USA, where he co-founded the Washington Square Players, the Theatre Guild, and the American Shakespeare Festival. Forging a highly successful career, he notably won the 1958 Tony Award for best play production for Sunrise at Campobello, a play based on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s struggle with polio. The present work was also ultimately performed on Broadway (where it was met with a mixed reception), although it is difficult to ascertain whether Langer had any involvement.
An anti-war play by the playwright, actor and director Paul Raynal (1885-1971). Originally published in French as Le Tombeau sous l’Arc de Triomphe in 1924, the work became the most performed war play of the inter-war period. First edition. Signed and inscribed by the translator. Publisher’s original blue cloth with titles in gilt to the upper board and spine, in dustwrapper. Bottom edge untrimmed. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with a touch of bumping to the corners. The contents with toning to the endpapers and some occasional light foxing are otherwise in very good order. The dustwrapper has some browning and a little chipping to the ends of the spine panel and a couple of short tears to the joints but is otherwise also very good.
