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Colby Quarterly

Volume 4 Issue 9 February Article 5

February 1957

The John Millington Synge Collection at Colby College

Robert E. Dysinger

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Recommended Citation Colby Library Quarterly, series 4, no.9, February 1957, p.166-172

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Quarterly by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. Dysinger: The John Millington Synge Collection at Colby College

166 Colby Library Quarterly Edward M.'Stephenswrote is not witllout its irony."Tllere at thegate of the cemetery a group of those who had known John as a writer and as a Director of the National Theater Society joined the procession that followed the coffin up the main avenue to the chapel. As the words of commit­ ment were said I noticed there the people John hag known divided, as they had always been in his life tim,e, into separate groups. His relations were together in black carrying bowler hats and, a little apart, the people among whom he had worked. I knew few of them even ,by ap­ pearance, but I can remelnber seeing Sara Allgood and watching Padraic Colunl's hair blowing in the wind."

THE JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE COLLECTION AT COLBY COLLEGE

'A Check List Compiled by ROBERT E. DYSINGER

HIS check list of Synge material is divided into th,ree T parts. The first and last are arranged alphabetically, the brief second part chronologically. Parentheses follow­ ing the entries give, in each case, information concerning publication, inscriptions, or other matter. I. Single works of Synge. II. Autograph letters. III. Biographical and critical material.

I. SINGLE WORKS' OF SYNGE The ; with drawings, by Jack B.'Yeats. , Maunsel; London, E. Mathews, 1906. (First edition. Be­ fore 1907 trade edition. Quinn 9969.)

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Colby Library Quarterly 167 The Aran Islands; with drawings by Jack B. Yeats. Dublin, Maunsel; London, E. Mathews, 1907. (First trade edi­ tion. Inscribed to Paul Lemperly by Elizabeth C. Yeats. Not in Quinn.) Also another copy of above. The Aran Islands; with drawings by Jack B. Yeats. Dublin, Maunsel; London, E. Mathews, 1907. (One of 150 large­ paper copies signed by author and artist. Quinn 9970.) The Aran Islands)· with drawings by Jack B. Yeats. Dublin, Maunsel, 1911. ("First library edition." Annabel Jack­ son's copy. Quinn 10002.) Collected plays. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Penguin Books [1952]' (Not in Quinn.) Another copy of above. Deirdre oj the Sorrows; a Play. Churchtown, , 1910. (First edition. Printed in red and black. Transcription of a letter from Elizabeth C. Yeats to Paul Lemperly, also some information about the purchase of this copy laid in. Not in Quinn.) Also another copy of above. Deirdre oj the Sorrows. New York, John Quinn, 1910. (First American edition. One of 50 copies. Preface by W. B. Yeats. Quinn 9984.) Also another copy of above. Deirdre oj the Sorrows. Dublin, Maunsel, 1912. (2d. edition of "pocket edition." Dr. Oliver St. John Gogarty's copy. Quinn 9992.) Four plays. Dublin, Maunsel, 1911. ("First library edition." Annabel Jackson's copy. Quinn 10002.) In the Shadow oj the Glen: a Play in one act. New York, John Quinn, 1904. (First American edition. Before first Lon­ don edition. One of 50 copies. Quinn 9964.) In the Shadow oj the Glen. London, E. Mathews; Boston, John W. Luce, 1911. (First American trade edition. Quinn 9995.) In Wicklow) West Kerry and Connemara)· with drawings by Jack B. Yeats. Dublin, Maunsel, 1911. ("First library edition." Annabel Jackson's copy. Quinn 10002.)

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168 Colby Library Quarterly The Playboy oj the JiVestern World; a comedy in three acts. Dub­ lin, Maunsel, 1907. (Very scarce first edition. No. 22 of 25 copies printed on hand-made paper. Not in Quinn.) The Playboy oj the Western World; a comedy in three acts. Dub- lin, Maunsel, 1907. (First edition. Crosby Gaige's copy. Not in Quinn.) The Playboy oj the Western World; a cornedy in three acts. Bos­ ton, John W. Luce, 1911. (Drama critic Gustav Kobbe's copy. His notes on when he bought the copy, and on the uproar in the audience at the New York opening night performance are signed and tipped in. Another draft of his notes and a clipping from the New York Herald of his report of the opening night performance laid in. First American edition. Quinn 9996.) Another copy of above. The Playboy oj the Western World; a comedy in three acts; with ten illustrations in colour by John Keating. London, Allen and Unwin [1927]. (One of 1000 copies. Not in Quinn.) Another copy of above. The Playboy oj the Western World. New York, Random House [1935]. (Not in Quinn.) Poems and Translations. Churchtown, Dundrum, Cuala Press, 1909. (First edition. One of 250 copies. Quinn 9979.) Another copy of above. Poems and Translations. New York, John Quinn, 1909. (One of 50 copies printed. Quinn 9981.) Another copy of above with John A. Spoor's bookplate. Poems and Translations. Dublin, Maunsel, 1911. ("First li­ brary edition." Annabel jackson's copy. Quinn 10002.) . Boston, John W. Luce, 1911. (First Ameri­ can edition. Quinn 9998.) The Shadow oj the Glen and Riders to the Sea. London, E. Mathews, 1905. (Vigo Cabinet series. Quinn 9965.) The Tinker's Wedding: a comedy in two acts. Dublin, Maun-

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Colby Library Quarterly 169 sel, 1907. (Quinn 9974.) Another copy of above with bookplate of Michael Monahan. The Tinker's Wedding; a comedy in tlVO acts. Boston, John W. Luce, 1911. (First American edition. Quinn 10001.) Two Plays. Dublin, Maunsel, 1911. ("First library edition." Annabel Jackson's copy. Not in Quinn.) ~' a play in three acts. London, A. H. Bullen; Dublin, the Abbey Theater, 1905. (First edition. Wrapper addressed to John Quinn by Synge and a book­ plate of John Quinn's laid in. Quinn 9967.) Another copy of above with slight binding variant-"Hely's Ltd. -Dublin-Printers" absent froln bottom edge of out­ side back cover. The vVell oj the Saints~' with an introduction by W. B. Yeats; being volume four of Plays for an . Lon­ don, A. H. Bullen, 1905. (First English edition. Not in Quinn.) The Well of the Saints; a dram,a in three acts. New York, John Quinn, 1905. (One of 50 copies printed. Elizabeth C. Yeats' copy, presented to her and signed by John Quinn. Quinn 9968.) The Well oj the Saints; a comedy in three acts. Boston, John W. Luce, 1911. (First Alnerican trade edition. Not in Quinn.) With Petrarch; Tlvelve sonnets; prose translations by John Millington Synge; reprinted with the preface to Poems and Translations. Larchmont, Peter Pauper Press, 1928. (One of 100 copies set and printed by hand on Italian hand-made paper. The first book issued by the Peter Pauper Press. Not in Quinn.) Another copy of above with Robert Cluett, 3d's bookplate. Works. Dublin, Maunsel, 1910. (First "collected" edition. Vol. 1, Plays; vol. 2, Plays~ Poems~ & Translations~' vol. 3, The Aran Islands; vol. 4, In Wicklow~ West Kerry, etc. Quinn 9988.)

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170 Colby Library Quarterly

II. AUTOGRAPH LETTERS A.L.S. to D. J. O'Donoghue concerning some articles 11e is doing for the Manchester Guardian) and saying Butler has bought his new play (The Well oj the Saints). January 25, 1905. , Co. Dublin. 1 p. A.L.S. to Prof. Francis Grierson thanking hiln for his kind­ ness to the actors on their trip to Scotland and saying that he has been at work on The Playboy oj the Western World. Mentions that The Aran Islands is about to come out. January 7, 190 7. Kingstown, Co. Dublin. 2 p.

III. BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL MATERIAL Francis Bickley. J. M. Synge and the Irish Dramatic l\fovernent. London, Constable; Boston and New York, Houghton lVlifHin, 1912. (First London and New York edition. Ern­ est Boyd's copy. Attempts to relate Synge to his contem­ poraries and to show his place in the drama of the Eng­ lish language. Quinn 12050.) Also Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1912. (First American edition. Not in Quinn.) Maurice Bourgeois. John l\lillington Synge and the Irish Theatre. London, Constable, 1913. (Study of Synge's life and writings in relation to the Irish theatre. Quinn 10010.) Also a variant binding of above with Thomas B. Mosher's bookplate. (Not in Quinn.) . Synge and Anglo-: a study.· Dublin and Cork, Cork University press, Educational co. of Ireland, ltd.; London, New York [etc.], Longmans, Green, 1931. (First edition. Ernest Boyd's copy. Attempts to fix Synge's place as a dramatist in field of Anglo-Irish letters. Not in Quinn.) Another copy of above with Judge Richard Campbell's bookplate. Denis Donoghue. "'Too Immoral for Dublin': Synge's 'The Tinker's Wedding'." Irish Writing 30) March, 1955, pp. 56-62. (Attempts to point out the comic value of The Tinker's Wedding in the face of prevailing harsh criticism.

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Colby Library Quarterly 17 1 Clipping from Irish 'Times of April 23, 1955 of a letter by Denis Donoghue to the editor complaining about, and correcting, a misprint in the Irish Writing article of March, 1955, laid in. Not in Quinn.) Darrell Figgis. "The Art of J. M. Synge." Fortnightly Review} December, 1911, pp. 1056-1068. (An evaluation of the plays. Pages are removed from the periodical and bound together. Not in Quinn.) Darrell Figgis. "The Art of J. M. Synge." The Forum} Jan­ uary, 1912, pp. 55-70. (An evaluation of the plays. Pages are removed from the periodical and bound together. . "Synge." The English Review) March, 1913, p'p. 556-566. (Describes her acquaintance with Synge and his work. Pages are removed fron1 the periodical and bound together. Not in Quinn.) P. P. Howe. J. M. Synge)· a critical study. London, M. Seeker, 1912. (First edition. Thomas B. Mosher's copy. This is dramatic criticism seeking to make clear the beauty and value of the plays and their place in . Quinn 10007.) Another copy of above. M. J. MacManus. "Bibliographies of Irish Authors, NO.4. John Millington Synge, by M.J. MacManus." The Dub­ lin Magazine} October-December, 1930, pp. 47-51. . "John M. Synge." The Contemporary Re­ view} April, 19 11 , pp. 47°-478. Personal memories of Synge by Masefield. Pages are removed from the period­ ical and bound together. Not in Quinn.) John Masefield. John M. Synge: A Few Personal Recollections} with Biographical Notes. Churchtown, Dundrum, Cuala Press, 1915. (First edition. Printed in red and black. John Quinn's copy of 350 copies printed. Quinn 6136.) Another copy of above. John Masefield. John M. Synge: A Few Personal Recollections} lvith Biographical Notes. New York, Macmillan, 19 1 5. (First Alnerican edition. a,ne of 500 copies printed. Quinn 10014.)

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17 2 Colby Library Quarterly [John Masefield.J John M. Synge: A Few Personal Recollec­ tions, with Biographical Notes. Letchworth, Garden City Press, 1916. (One of 200 copies. "By John Masefield" pencilled on half-title. Masefield's name does not appear on the title-page. Quinn 6146.) P. S. O'Hegarty. "Some Notes on the Bibliography of J. 1\1. Synge, supplemental to Bourgeois and MacManus." The Dublin Magazine, January-lVlarch, 1942, pp. 56-58. P. S. O'Hegarty. "Synge and Irish Literature." The Dublin Magazine, January-March, 1932, pp. 51-56. (Revie,v of Synge and Anglo-Irish Literature, by Daniel Corkery. Not in Quinn.) L. A. G. Strong. "John Millington Synge." The Dublin Magazine, April-June, 1932, pp. 12-32. ('Vhy one should read and enjoy Synge's work. Not in Quinn.) L. A. G. Strong. John Millington Synge. London, Allen & Unwin [1941]. (A brief evaluatio11 of the plays and their author. "P.E.N." books. First edition. Not in Quinn.) Another copy of above. Samuel Synge. Letters to My Daughter; l\!Ieulories oj John Millington Synge. Dublin and Cork, Talbot Press [1931]. (A brother's memories of Synge. Not in Quinn.) Raymond Willian1s. Drama jrom Ibsen to Eliot. London, Chatto & Windus, 195 2 . (Discusses drama of the last century as literature. Synge is discussed on pages 154­ 174. Not in Quinn.) William Butler Yeats. The Death oj Synge, and Other Pas­ sages from an Old Diary. Dublin, Cuala Press, 1928. (First edition. Printed in red and black. Crosby Gaige's copy of 400 copies printed. Not in Quinn.) Another copy of above. William Butler Yeats. Synge and the Ireland oj his Tin'le; with a Note Concerning a Walk Through Connemara with Him, by . Churchtown, Dundrum, Cuala Press, 1911. (First edition. One of 350 copies printed. Quinn 11515.) Another copy of above with Al­ bert Parsons Sachs's bookplate.

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