Coward, Noel ~ Fallen Angels : Presentation Copy Inscribed By Noel Coward To The Author Dennis Wheatley

First UK Printing : Ernest Benn Limited, London: 1925

The First UK Printing published by Ernest Benn Limited, London in 1925. 4to., blue publisher’s cloth with paper labels printed in black to upper cover and the spine; THE BOOK a Very Good, clean copy, endpapers faintly offset, and some spotting to the edges and prelims; the paper label along the spine is rubbed and chipped, with some loss of lettering. A couple of superficial abrasions and spots to the label on the upper board; light pushing and rubbing to the spine tips and corners of boards ,cut advertisement for the play affixed to the rear paste-down; neat ex libris plate of Tony M. Chance to the front free endpaper. The book is protected in a removable Mylar cover. First UK edition, from ‘Contemporary British Dramatists, Volume XXV. This a presentation copy, signed on the front upper end-paper from Noel Coward; 'for Dennis Wheatley', with Wheatley’s iconic bookplate to the front paste-down. Originally intended for the West End Theatre star Margaret Bannerman, Fallen Angels first opened at the Globe Theatre in London on the 21st April 1925, where it ran for 158 performances until the 29th August with Tallulah Bankhead as a last-minute substitute. Centered around the theme of two wives (who admit to premarital relations and consider adultery), there was initially some debate as to whether the play should run at all, with an official in the theatre censor Lord Chamberlain’s office recommending that the licence be refused on grounds of possible scandal. With the Lord Chamberlain’s approval needed prior to any public theatrical release, he acquiesced, claiming "the whole thing is so much unreal farcical comedy, that subject to a few modifications in the dialogue it can pass." Although Amsterdam Municipal Theatre banned the production after just a few performances in 1926, the play appeared on Broadway the following year. Coward appears to have signed a small number of other plays to Wheatley, with one or two others having appeared on the market in recent years.

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good+