The Emperor Jones; Diff’rent; The Straw
Eugene G. O'NeillNew York: Boni and Liveright, 1921.
First Edition.
19.5cm x 13cm. xii, 285 pages. Quarter cloth, papered boards, black lettering, pictorial jacket.
First edition, first state binding, in the original pictorial jacket. The Emperor Jones was a watershed in American theatre, one of the first major Broadway productions to feature a Black actor in a leading dramatic role of such prominence, originally performed by Charles S. Gilpin and later by Paul Robeson in a role that helped establish his international stage reputation. A bold expressionist exploration of fear, power, and racial consciousness, the play remains a landmark text in both African-American theatrical history and the development of modern American drama. ATKINSON A 15-I-i.a. Also includes Diff’rent, a two-act study of sexual repression in a New England fishing village, and The Straw, a naturalistic drama drawn from O’Neill’s own experience in a tuberculosis sanatorium.
Very minor shelf wear to boards. Some restoration to jacket along folds, crease to lower pane. Near Fine Condition.
The Book Merchant Jenkins is away 24 August to 25 September, including exhibiting at the Berlin Rare Book Fair (18-20 September). Online orders can still be placed during this period and will be processed on our return. Email enquiries will be answered, though response times may be a little slower than usual.
AU$1,500