Marrin's Bookshop

Synopsis

By donagh macdonagh. embellishments by francis rose.

Item Description

FIRST EDITION. 8vo. 5.75 x 8.5 inches. 81 + [1] + IV + [I] pp. Bound in original cream boards with black titles. Extremities a little worn, but otherwise a very good copy. Loosely inset: Typescript review and summary of the play at the Mercury Theatre, signed L.E.R., [2] p. Illustrated by wood engravings by Francis Rose, including title page border, scene titles and vignettes. Decorated by publisher's device on title page. A verse drama which was very successful in post-war London. The enclosed review describes it as 'this lunatic soup of exaggerated tragedy and comedy which can only be described as melodrama - fantastic yet disarmingly matter-of-fact, in which poetic lyricism and jingling Irish ballad mixes unashamed with doggerel, with refreshingly Celtic sans gene.' The text includes a glossary of difficult words and phrases at the end. Donagh MacDonagh (1912-68) was the son of Thomas MacDonagh, executed after the 1916 Rising. Playwright and broadcaster, he also served as a District judge and JP.