EDMUND ROSTAND

INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, with Letter tipped in
Rostand, Edmund. CYRANO DE BERGERAC. Comedie heroique en cinq actes, en vers. Paris: Charpontier et Fasquelle, 1898. FIRST EDITION of this masterpiece of French theater, source for one of the most enduring and endearing characters in world literature. A very NEAR FINE copy in contemporary blue half-morocco, t.e.g., the publisher's printed wrappers, including the spine, bound in. This is a superb PRESENTATION COPY inscribed on the half-title to Henri Lavedan (1859-1940), a successful and honored playwright with nearly twenty plays produced in Paris during the same era in which Rostand rose to prominence. Lavedan and Rostand shared a similar literary style characterized by wit and satire, and it's likely that they were not only peers but friends and companions together at the apex of turn-of-the-century French theater. This is further suggested by the warm one-page LETTER (n.p., n.d.) from Rostand to Lavedan which is tipped into this book. In a remarkable blue full morocco slipcase with gilt ornamentation on the spine including the tooled impression of Cyrano's sword and Cyrano's White Plume. SOLD

ANOTHER INSCRIBED FIRST EDITION HAS JUST ARRIVED (2010). Please call for additional description.