DOCSLIB.ORG

9781846311017.Pdf

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
9781846311017.Pdf Obelisk A History of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd i 23/9/07 11:48:53 Jack Kahane Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd ii 23/9/07 11:48:54 Obelisk A History of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press NEIL PEARSON LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY PRESS Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd iii 23/9/07 11:48:54 First published 2007 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU Copyright © 2007 Neil Pearson The right of Neil Pearson to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available ISBN 978-1-84631-101-7 cased Typeset by Koinonia in Golden Cockerel Printed and bound in the European Union by Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd iv 23/9/07 11:48:54 For Natalie Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd v 23/9/07 11:48:54 Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd vi 23/9/07 11:48:54 As good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature, God’s Image; but hee who destroyes a good Booke, kills reason it selfe, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye. John Milton, Areopagitica We should not only be able to defend to the death other people’s right to say things with which we disagree, we must also allow them to do it in abominable prose. John Mortimer, introduction to Books in the Dock by C. H. Rolph Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd vii 23/9/07 11:48:54 Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd viii 23/9/07 11:48:54 Contents Acknowledgements xi Key to Reference Works xiv A Very British Pornographer: The Life of Jack Kahane 1 Bibliography of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press A Items: Books Published by Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press 79 B Items: Ephemera of the Obelisk Press 271 C Items: The Plays, Novels, Short Fiction and Non-Fiction of Jack Kahane 281 D Items: Translations by Jack Kahane 309 Author Biographies 313 Picture Credits 489 Works Consulted 490 Index of Obelisk Authors 493 Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd ix 23/9/07 11:48:54 Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd x 23/9/07 11:48:54 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following institutions for making me so welcome when I visited, and for offering such valuable assistance to me in the writing of this book: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas; Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University; Berg Collection, New York Public Library; Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University; Bibliothèque Nationale de France; National Library of Scotland; Bodleian Library, Oxford University; Cambridge University Library; Special Collections, Leeds University Library; British Newspaper Library, Colindale; National Portrait Gallery archives, London; British Publisher Archives, Reading University; Reading Room, Victoria and Albert Museum; Special Collections, Sussex University Library; and the British Library, the best place to think in London, and my offi ce while this book was being written. Staff at the following institutions gave me invaluable long-dis- tance help, responding to my enquiries with unfailing courtesy and effi ciency: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; Widener Library, Harvard University; University of North Carolina Library; Princeton University Library; James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota; Southern Illinois University Library; University of Iowa Library; and the Dartmouth College Library, New Hampshire. My agent Jamie Crawford, and Anthony Cond and Helen Tookey at Liverpool University Press, have gone out of their way to offer me help and support. Brian Bugler and Sylvia Brownrigg both found time to talk to me about their respective grandparents, Eric Benfi eld and Gawen Brownrigg; Patrick Wright talked to me about Benfi eld’s career as a sculptor; Caroline Theakstone at Getty Images found me pictures of some of the more obscure Obelisk writers; Aine Gibbons, librarian at Queen’s University, Belfast, located a thesis for me that had defeated the British Library; Chris Casson let me consult Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd xi 23/9/07 11:48:54 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS his extensive and impressive collection of books by and about the Paris expatriates; and Tom Goldwasser, of Goldwasser Books, San Francisco, kindly showed me letters from Henry Miller to Richard Thoma acquired by his shop. Peter Mendes cast his eye over the bibliography, made some extremely useful suggestions, and provided me with information about the two Obelisk books originally published by the Fortune Press which would otherwise have passed me by. Paul Mortimer loaned me his unpublished thesis on the Mancunian playwright Stanley Houghton, a rich resource for the section of this book’s intro- duction dealing with Kahane’s early years, and was also good enough to read the fi nished section (and spot a mistake). Margaret Harms- worth, daughter of the publisher Desmond Harmsworth, invited me to her home in Paris and showed me letters which James Joyce and his daughter Lucia had written to her father; these unpublished documents provided me not only with invaluable information but also a powerful visceral thrill, and I am grateful to Margaret for sharing them with me. John Baxter, who lives in the rue de l’Odéon apart- ment building which was once home to Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier, was good enough to let me sit in his library for a couple of days and fi llet it of bibliographical information relating to the Obelisk Press; his buy-everything-in-any-edition approach to collecting made his library especially useful to me, and both his location and his hospitality are unimprovable. Susanna Gross provided much-needed support during the early stages of this project, and later read sections of the manuscript: she knows how important her good opinion is to me. And I am grateful to Rick Gekoski, of Gekoski Rare Books, London: his amused interest, helpful suggestions and constant encouragement have done more than he knows to keep this project moving forward. Three people remain to be thanked. Paul Kahane, the nephew of Jack Kahane, was generous with his time and hospitality, and trusted me with precious family documents and photographs. I am especially glad for him that this book is fi nished at last. James Armstrong was the fi rst Obelisk bibliographer. His checklist of Obelisk Press books, fi rst published in the Spring 2002 edition of The Book Collector, provided me with the map I needed when I fi rst started on this project, and his generosity in sharing with me the books and papers he had amassed during his own research made my job much easier than it would [ xii ] Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd xii 23/9/07 11:48:54 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS otherwise have been. I am immensely grateful to him. Finally, Natalie Galustian has put up with more talk of second impressions, cancel title-pages and variant bindings than anyone could reasonably be expected to endure. The mistakes in this book are all mine; the reason it’s fi nished is her. [ xiii ] Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd xiii 23/9/07 11:48:54 Key to Reference Works The following list is a key to the reference works and collections cited in this bibliography: Armstrong: James Armstrong, ‘The Obelisk Press Imprint 1931–1950’, The Book Collector, Vol. 51, No. 1, Spring 2002. Also used to refer to books in Mr Armstrong’s private collection Baxter: Private collection of John Baxter BL: British Library BNF: Bibliothèque Nationale de France Bodleian: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford Casson: Private collection of Chris Casson CUL: Cambridge University Library d’Arch Smith: Timothy d’Arch Smith, R. A. Caton and the Fortune Press: A Memoir and a Hand-List (Asphodel Editions, 2004) Ford: Hugh Ford, Published in Paris: American and British Writers, Printers, and Publishers, 1920–1939 (Garnstone Press, 1975) Gertzman: Jay Gertzman, A Descriptive Bibliography of Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Greenwood, 1989) Gibbs: Linnea Gibbs, James Hanley: A Bibliography (William Hoffer, 1980) Gostock: Private collection of Chris Gostock HRC: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas NLS: National Library of Scotland NYPL: New York Public Library Roberts and Poplawski: Warren Roberts and Paul Poplawski, A Bibliog- raphy of D. H. Lawrence (Cambridge University Press, 2001) Shifreen and Jackson: Lawrence J. Shifreen and Roger Jackson, Henry Miller: A Bibliography of Primary Sources (Alyscamps Press, 1993) SIU: Southern Illinois University Slocum and Cahoon: John J. Slocum and Herbert Cahoon, A Bibliography of James Joyce 1882–1941 (Yale University Press, 1953) Woolf: Cecil Woolf, A Bibliography of Norman Douglas (Rupert Hart-Davis, 1954) Obelisk_00_PrelimsIntro.indd xiv 23/9/07 11:48:54 A Very British Pornographer: The Life of Jack Kahane Eighty years on, anyone who spent more than twenty minutes on the Paris literary scene between the two world wars seems to have had a book written about them. Books about James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway and Henry Miller and Ezra Pound were inevitable, Gertrude Stein wrote her own until biographers took the hint, and lesser literary lights – Robert McAlmon, Harry and Caresse Crosby, Nancy Cunard, Natalie Barney – all wrote memoirs which added to the mystique surrounding both themselves and the world in which they moved. Biographies duly followed. Then came books by or about the period’s bit-part players, those who contributed more to the life of the Left Bank than to its legacy: Kiki of Montparnasse, John Glassco, Aleister Crowley, Bravig Imbs, Jimmie the Barman, Henri Broca and Flossie Martin, Ralph Cheever Dunning and Wambly Bald, and armies of White Russians and black Americans, crooks and contessas, junkies and jazzmen and hopheads and whores without number or name.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Literary Miscellany
    Literary Miscellany Including Recent Acquisitions, Manuscripts & Letters, Presentation & Association Copies, Art & Illustrated Works, Film-Related Material, Etcetera. Catalogue 349 WILLIAM REESE COMPANY 409 TEMPLE STREET NEW HAVEN, CT. 06511 USA 203.789.8081 FAX: 203.865.7653 [email protected] www.williamreesecompany.com TERMS Material herein is offered subject to prior sale. All items are as described, but are consid- ered to be sent subject to approval unless otherwise noted. Notice of return must be given within ten days unless specific arrangements are made prior to shipment. All returns must be made conscientiously and expediently. Connecticut residents must be billed state sales tax. Postage and insurance are billed to all non-prepaid domestic orders. Orders shipped outside of the United States are sent by air or courier, unless otherwise requested, with full charges billed at our discretion. The usual courtesy discount is extended only to recognized booksellers who offer reciprocal opportunities from their catalogues or stock. We have 24 hour telephone answering and a Fax machine for receipt of orders or messages. Catalogue orders should be e-mailed to: [email protected] We do not maintain an open bookshop, and a considerable portion of our literature inven- tory is situated in our adjunct office and warehouse in Hamden, CT. Hence, a minimum of 24 hours notice is necessary prior to some items in this catalogue being made available for shipping or inspection (by appointment) in our main offices on Temple Street. We accept payment via Mastercard or Visa, and require the account number, expiration date, CVC code, full billing name, address and telephone number in order to process payment.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fabians Could Only Have Happened in Britain....In a Thoroughly Admirable Study the Mackenzies Have Captured the Vitality of the Early Years
    THE famous circle of enthusiasts, reformers, brilliant eccentrics-Sha\y the Webbs, Wells-whose ideas and unconventional attitudes fashioned our modern world by Norman C&Jeanne MacKenzie AUTHORS OF H.G. Wells: A Biography PRAISE FOR Not quite a political party, not quite a pressure group, not quite a debating society, the Fabians could only have happened in Britain....In a thoroughly admirable study the MacKenzies have captured the vitality of the early years. Since much of this is anecdotal, it is immensely fun to read. Most im¬ portant, they have pinpointed (with¬ out belaboring) all the internal para¬ doxes of F abianism. —The Kirkus Reviews H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Bertrand Russell, part of the outstandingly talented and paradoxical group that led the way to socialist Britain, are brought into brilliant human focus in this marvelously detailed and anecdote-filled por¬ trait of the original members of the Fabian Society—with a fresh assessment of their contributions to social thought. “The first Fabians,” said Shaw, were “missionaries among the savages,” who laid the ground¬ work for the Labour Party, and whose mis¬ sionary zeal and passionate enthusiasms carried them from obscurity to fame. This voluble and volatile band of middle-class in¬ tellectuals grew up in a period of liberating ideas and changing morals, influenced by (continued on back flap) c A / c~ 335*1 MacKenzie* Norman Ian* Ml99f The Fabians / Norman and Jeanne MacKenzie* - New York : Simon and Schuster, cl977* — 446 p** [8] leaves of plates : ill* - ; 24 cm* Includes bibliographical references and index* ISBN 0—671—22347—X : $11.95 1* Fabian Society, London* I* Title.
    [Show full text]
  • Irish Studies Round the World – 2019
    Estudios Irlandeses, Issue 15, March 2020-Feb. 2021, pp. 242-276 __________________________________________________________________________________________ AEDEI IRISH STUDIES ROUND THE WORLD – 2019 Christina Hunt Mahony (ed.) Copyright (c) 2020 by the authors. This text may be archived and redistributed both in electronic form and in hard copy, provided that the author and journal are properly cited and no fee is charged for access. Introduction Christina Hunt Mahony ……….………………………………………………………..….. 243 A History of Irish Modernism. Gregory Castle and Patrick Bixby, eds. Feargal Whelan ……..……………..………………….………………………………….…245 Constellations: Reflections from Life. Sinéad Gleeson Melania Terrazas …...………………………………….………………………….………...248 Dublin Palms. Hugo Hamilton Denis Sampson…………..………………………….…..…………………………………...250 Making Integral: Critical Essays on Richard Murphy. Benjamin Keatinge, ed. Elsa Meihuizen……..………………………………..…………………………………........252 The Collected Letters of W. B. Yeats, Volume V: 1908-10. John Kelly and Ronald Schuchard, eds. Nicholas Grene………………………………….…………………………………………...255 Over the Backyard Wall: A Memory Book. Thomas Kilroy George O’Brien ………...…………………………..……………………………………….258 A New History of the Irish in Australia. Elizabeth Malcolm and Dianne Hall Pauric Travers ……………………..……………..…………………………………………264 Notes to Self. Emilie Pine Éilís ni Dhuibne………….………………………..………………………………………...266 ISSN 1699-311X 243 Oscar Wilde and Contemporary Irish Drama: Learning to be Oscar’s Contemporary. Graham Price Pierpaolo Martino………...………………………..………………………………………..269
    [Show full text]
  • YEATS ANNUAL NO. 5 in the Same Series
    YEATS ANNUAL NO. 5 In the same series YEATS ANNUAL Nos I, 2 Edited by Richard J. Finneran YEATS ANNUAL Nos, 3, 4 Edited by Warwick Gould THOMAS HARDY ANNUALS Nos I, 2, 3, 4, 5 Edited by Norman Page O'CASEY ANNUALS Nos I, 2, 3, 4 Edited by Robert G. Lowery Further titles in preparation Series Standlna Order If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are published, you can make use of our standing order facility. To place a standing order please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address and the name of the series. Please state with which title you wish to begin your standing order. (If you live outside the UK we may not have the rights for your area, in which case we will forward your order to the publisher concerned.) Standing Order Service, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG212XS, England. W. B. Yeats in his study in Woburn Buildings, reproduced from The Tatter, 15 7, 29 June 1904 (see Editor's Note, p. xviii). YEATS ANNUAL No. 5 Edited by Warwick Gould ©Warwick Gould 1987 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1987 978-0-333-35333-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Totten ham Court Road, London WlP 9HE.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Greek Tragedy and Irish Epic in Modern Irish
    MEMORABLE BARBARITIES AND NATIONAL MYTHS: ANCIENT GREEK TRAGEDY AND IRISH EPIC IN MODERN IRISH THEATRE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Katherine Anne Hennessey, B.A., M.A. ____________________________ Dr. Susan Cannon Harris, Director Graduate Program in English Notre Dame, Indiana March 2008 MEMORABLE BARBARITIES AND NATIONAL MYTHS: ANCIENT GREEK TRAGEDY AND IRISH EPIC IN MODERN IRISH THEATRE Abstract by Katherine Anne Hennessey Over the course of the 20th century, Irish playwrights penned scores of adaptations of Greek tragedy and Irish epic, and this theatrical phenomenon continues to flourish in the 21st century. My dissertation examines the performance history of such adaptations at Dublin’s two flagship theatres: the Abbey, founded in 1904 by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, and the Gate, established in 1928 by Micheál Mac Liammóir and Hilton Edwards. I argue that the potent rivalry between these two theatres is most acutely manifest in their production of these plays, and that in fact these adaptations of ancient literature constitute a “disputed territory” upon which each theatre stakes a claim of artistic and aesthetic preeminence. Partially because of its long-standing claim to the title of Ireland’s “National Theatre,” the Abbey has been the subject of the preponderance of scholarly criticism about the history of Irish theatre, while the Gate has received comparatively scarce academic attention. I contend, however, that the history of the Abbey--and of modern Irish theatre as a whole--cannot be properly understood except in relation to the strikingly different aesthetics practiced at the Gate.
    [Show full text]
  • Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Caesar in Ccarsnr Or~Rlclcopatrn for Forbes Robertson, and Lady Cicely in Captain Brassbot~~Rd'j Cor~~,Crsiorlfor Ellen Terry
    This document is from the Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections located in the Carl A. Kroch Library. If you have questions regarding this document or the information it contains, contact us at the phone number or e-mail listed below. Our website also contains research information and answers to frequently asked questions. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Phone: (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 E-mail: [email protected] This publication has been prepared with the generous support of the Arnold '44 and Gloria Tofias Fund and the Bernard E Burgunder Fund for George Bernard Shaw. + Issued on the Occasion of "77re Instinct of an Artist:" Straw and the Theatre. An Exhibition from the Bernard F. Hurgunder Collection of George Bernard Shaur, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Carl A. Kroch Library April 17-June 13,1997 Cover and lnsidc Cover Illustrations: Shown are Shaw's photographic postcards sent to actress Evlarparet Halstan, critiquin~her performance as Raina in Arnold Dnly's ign revival of Annr and the )Man. [Item iA] Title page illustration by Antnny Wysard Note: Shaw ohcn spelled words phonetically, and sometimes used archaic forms of words. In quoting Shaw, we have retained his unusual spelling throughout O 1997 Cornell University Library The Instinct of an Artist + he Bernard F. Burgunder Collection of George Bernard Shaw was established at Cornell University in 1956, the centennial of Shaw's birth. The Collection repre- T sents a lifelong enthusiasm of the donor, Bernard Rurgundcr, who began collect- ing Shaviana soon after his graduation from Cornell in 1918.
    [Show full text]
  • ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 7(8), 331-336 RESEARCH ARTICLE
    ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 7(8), 331-336 Journal Homepage: -www.journalijar.com Article DOI:10.21474/IJAR01/9509 DOI URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/9509 RESEARCH ARTICLE PIONEERS OF REPERTORY THEATRES. Dr. Pradnya S. Yenkar. Associate Professor, Department of English,Vidyabharati Mahavidyalaya, AMRAVATI (MS)-444602.INDIA. …………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Manuscript Info Abstract ……………………. ……………………………………………………………… Manuscript History The staging of Shakespeare‟s plays was revolutionized by Granville- Received: 06 June 2019 Barker‟s productions at the Savoy Theatre, which were admired for Final Accepted: 08 July 2019 their simplicity, fluidity, and speed. Equally significant for the British Published: August 2019 theatre was the founding of the first provincial repertory theatre in 1908 by Horniman at the Gaiety, Manchester. It not only provided opportunities for promising British playwrights but also presented works by important Continental dramatists. Mainstream British theatre paid very little attention to the antirealistic movements that characterized experimental theatre in the rest of Europe. The domination of the actor-manager was effectively challenged by Harley Granville-Barker and John E. Vedrenne at London‟s Royal Court Theatre; between 1904 and 1907 they staged numerous new plays by British and Continental writers. The major dramatist at the Royal Court, indeed the most important British dramatist of the century, was the Irish-born George Bernard Shaw. The Irish theatre movement and the repertory theatres
    [Show full text]
  • Stages of Subscription, 1880–1930
    Stages of Subscription, 1880–1930 The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:37944972 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Stages of Subscription, 1880–1930 A dissertation presented by Matthew Scott Franks to The Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of English Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts December 2016 © 2016 Matthew Scott Franks All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Leah Price Matthew Scott Franks Stages of Subscription, 1880–1930 Abstract Subscription redistricted turn-of-the-century British and Irish theater audiences in seemingly contradictory ways, alternately appealing to coteries or crowds. At a time when women, the working classes, and the Irish were advocating for greater political representation outside the theater, subscribers circumvented the Lord Chamberlain and London commercial theater managers in order to legislate repertoires and policies on the rest of the public’s behalf. Printed subscription ephemera created virtual stages on which subscribers could enact and reimagine their social relationships, whether by pinning their tickets together in order to secure adjoining seats, or by crowding newspaper columns with letters protesting unfair treatment from theater managers, or simply by reading their name—or a name—next to others on a list.
    [Show full text]
  • C L O U D S H I L L B O O
    C L O U D S H I L L B O O K S 27 BANK STREET • NEW YORK, NY 10014 212-414-4432 • 212-414-4257 FAX • [email protected] HENRY MILLER COLLECTION “I DETEST THE ILLUSTRATIONS” 1. TROPIQUE DU CANCER. Paris: Deux-Rives, 1947. Limited Edition. Unbound signatures in wrappers and a slipcase. One of 750 copies. Translated into French by Paul Rivert, with a Preface by Henri Fluchère. Illustrated with original lithographs by Timar. This edition contains a thirteen-page essay on Miller‟s writing, “Le Lyrisme de Henry Miller” by Henri Fluchère, which does not appear in any American or British edition. While striking and unusual due to colorful illustrations and being issued in an unbound state, Miller‟s reaction to this edition was not favorable. Writing to J. Rives Childs on June 24, 1950, Miller says, “Incidentally, there‟s a deluxe illustrated edition of Cancer I never mention… because I detest the illustrations – by Timar…” Miller appears in a number of them and a line drawing which appears on the title page has his nose drawn as a penis. Wrappers lightly creased at the spine, else a fine copy. 2. TROPIC OF CANCER. New York: Grove Press, 1961. First Grove Press Trade Edition in dust jacket. With an Introduction by Karl Shapiro and a Preface by Anaïs Nin. Ownership signature on the front free endpaper, else a very good copy in a very good jacket. Henry Miller was a leading example of a special kind of writer who is essentially seer and prophet, whose immediate ancestor was Rimbaud, and whose leading exponent was D.H.
    [Show full text]
  • Too True to Be Good at the 1932 Malvern Festival
    Too True to Be Good at the 1932 Malvern Festival SOUDABEH ANANISARAB ABSTRACT: The Malvern Festival was established in 1929 by the founder and then director of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sir Barry Jackson. While the Festival began as an event solely dedicated to Shaw, Jackson’s guiding philosophy of the Festival soon changed its direction in later seasons as Jackson sought to present a glorified sense of England’s past to an audience of international visitors by means of an emphasis on lesser-known classics in English theater. This article explores the reception of Shaw’s Too True to Be Good (1932) in this context to argue that Shaw’s increasingly dystopian visions of England’s future as depicted in his later plays clashed with Jackson’s organization of the Festival and that Shaw’s inclusion in the repertoire and presence in Malvern largely contributed to the Festival’s failure in reconciling its images of the past and present. KEYWORDS: Shaw, Malvern Festival, Sir Barry Jackson, Too True to Be Good George Bernard Shaw’s Too True to Be Good received its British premiere in 1932 as part of the fourth season of the Malvern Theatre Festival. The Malvern Festival was established in 1929 by the founder and then direc- tor of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sir Barry Jackson. The Festival began as an event solely dedicated to Shaw as in its first season; it featured five Shavian productions including the British premiere of The Apple Cart. While during its twelve seasons the Festival fluctuated in the extent of its association with Shaw, in total it presented two world premieres of Shaw’s plays and four British premieres.
    [Show full text]
  • Abbey Theatre Approximately 1903-1988 MS.1986.135
    Boston College Collection of the Abbey Theatre approximately 1903-1988 MS.1986.135 http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2773 Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 4 Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Historical Note ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Scope and Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 7 I: Correspondence .......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Whose Abbey Theatre?
    Preface: Whose Abbey Theatre? To whom did the Abbey Theatre belong? At various times, many of the Irish people involved in its life thought they had a right to call the Abbey "our Irish theatre": those who started the Irish National Dramatic Society, those who acted in it, those who wrote plays for it, those with a need or use for it, with a wish to make Ireland free, Gaelic, socialist, or feu- dal. In a legal sense, there can be no question that during its formative years, from 1904 to 1911, the Abbey Theatre be- longed to no Irishman at all; it was the property of Annie E. F. Horniman, a middle-aged, middle-class dissenting London spinster. But now it is most often understood to be, as W. B. Yeats tried to make it then, an authors' theatre, even Yeats's very own theatre. To read through the essays of Yeats, one would think that the patron of the Abbey Theatre, Annie Horniman, had little effect on what was written and per- formed; that the actors were instruments of the will of the au- thors; and that the audience was unappreciative of the emer- gence of great literature before them, when not violently opposed to it. This book, in a study of Irish dramatic move- ments from 1899 to 1911, challenges that view of the theatre; it reevaluates the importance of authors, patrons, actors, and audience in shaping the literature of the stage. It was Yeats's ambition—both in the Irish Literary Theatre (1899-1901) and in the Irish National Theatre Society that suc- ceeded it—to found a literary theatre in Ireland over which the authors had control.
    [Show full text]