A Celebration of the Yale Collection of American Literature, 1911–2011
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Multitudes: A Celebration of the Yale Collection of American Literature, 1911–2011 On view at Beinecke Library, Yale University, July 8 through October 1, 2011 Checklist and Descriptions: From Print to Stage *** From Print to Stage: Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) Tennessee Williams is widely recognized as one of the greatest American playwrights—a writer beloved for enduring, oft-pro-duced classics such as The Glass Menagerie (1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), for which he received a Pulitzer Prize, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955); all three plays were made into films. Although Williams’s collected papers can be found in libraries elsewhere, the Beinecke’s holdings include pristine first editions, scripts, pamphlets and clippings, representative samples of his short stories and essays, as well as correspondence with, for example, the actress Ruth Ford (sister of Charles Henri Ford, whose papers are also present in the Collection). Ford’s working copy of her understudy script for the role of Blanche DuBois in the original 1947 Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire, makes for an excellent association copy and print variant. Ford filled in for Jessica Tandy when the lead actress fell ill, and she maintained a close friendship with Williams over the course of many years. *** Tennessee Williams, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Ruth Ford’s annotated understudy script (for the role of Blanche DuBois played by Jessica Tandy), Ethel Barrymore Theatre production New York, 1948. (Final Play Version, December 3, 1947.) Carl Van Vechten, photograph of Ruth Ford (in a dress improvised from a sari by Pierre Balmain), November 9, 1947. A Streetcar Named Desire, playbill for the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (week beginning Monday, November 15, 1948). Directed by Elia Kazin with Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden. A Streetcar Named Desire, Chicago Stagebill. The Harris Theatre (week ending Sunday, October 3, 1948). Directed by Elia Kazin with Uta Hagen, Anthony Quinn, Russell Hardie, and Mary Welch. *** Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (New York: New Directions, 1947). Tennessee Williams, Un tramway nommé Désir, adaptation de Jean Cocteau d’après la traduction de Paule de Beaumont. Couverture et lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Paris: Bordas, 1949). Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, with a foreword by Jessica Tandy and an introduction by the author. Illustrations by Al Hirschfield (New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1982). *** .