HARLEQUIN PHOENIX or The Rise and Fall of a Bergamask Rogue [First edition - Mervyn Peake dustwrapper]

Thelma Niklaus (Mervyn Peake dustwrapper and frontispiece)

Edité par The Bodley Head, London, 1956

A propos de cet article

First impression of the true first edition. Illustrated with five full-page colour plates and forty-five black and white plates. With a black and white full-page frontispiece repeated from the dustwrapper illustration by Mervyn Peake. ***Very good in red cloth-covered boards with gilt titles and borders to the spine and a gilt phoenix design to the front board "Io Rinasco". The gilt is still nice and bright. Top edge of text-block stained red by the publisher (to match the boards). The boards have been affected by damp at some stage, and are now partially faded - but not affecting the interior of the book [please see scans]. Head and tail of spine slightly creased. No foxing to the page block edges. Internally also very good, with clean pages and no foxing. No creases or tears. No inscriptions, but there is an interesting period illustrated bookplate on the front pastedown from the Seven Arts Book Club. There is a slight reading lean to the book. Spine tight. ***In a very good Mervyn Peake illustrated dustwrapper, that has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of 42 s net. The dustwrapper is largely complete, with just some small areas of loss at the top and tail of the spine, and with a small chip at the bottom edge of the back panel. Edges of dustwrapper are slightly rubbed and creased, mainly affecting the folding edges along the spine. No significant tears or chips. Spine of dustwrapper is slightly darkened, with light fading to the pink titles on the spine. There is some staining to the back panel of the dustwrapper near the spine, and the back panel is also slightly darkened and discoloured being a white background. Front panel of dustwrapper bright. ***226 mm x 154 mm. 259 pages including bibliography and index to rear. ***'Harlequin is one of the most mysterious figures ever created. The four hundred years of his life cover a personal and dramatic history as fantastic as his appearance; and his final costume is perhaps the most beautiful and the most theatrically effective ever devised. ***Born in Italy, Harlequin played a leading part in the development of commedia dell'arte, a unique form of creative drama. Through him, new theatre forms were developed - opera comique in France, pantomime in England. His vicissitudes - and they were many - were closely linked with the social and political changes of four centuries of European history, his destiny shaped by his adventures abroad, and by the men who played him. The author traces his evolution from Arlecchino, the doltish Bergamask clown, through Marivaux's witty, elegant Arlequin, to the glittering spangled Harlequin of English pantomime, and draws her own conclusions from the wealth of historical material brought to light by her researches. ***Harlequin Phoenix is a book which every true lover of theatre will wish to have on his shelves.' (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper). ***First impression of the true first edition, complete in its original dustwrapper illustrated by Mervyn Peake, and with the frontispiece also by Mervyn Peake. An unusual first edition title. A very good copy, with faults as described. A nicely produced book. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.

N° de réf. du vendeur 8398

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: HARLEQUIN PHOENIX or The Rise and Fall of a Bergamask Rogue [First edition - Mervyn Peake dustwrapper]
• Éditeur: The Bodley Head, London
• Date de parution: 1956
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Illustrateur: Mervyn Peake (Jacket illustration and frontispiece)
• Édition: First Edition
• État de l'article: Very Good
• État de la jaquette: Very Good
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • First Editions
  • Illustrated
  • Arts