Theatre

Theatre, in the antiquarian book trade, appears in many forms: first editions of plays, copies annotated for stage use, manuscripts by dramatists, correspondence of actors and troupe directors, and collections of engravings depicting costumes and sets. The bibliophilic interest often lies in the first edition of a play that has remained in the repertoire, in an inscription linking the author to an actor or fellow writer, or in the condition of a copy long handled backstage.

It is also, for the collector, an opportunity to touch upon that art of the fleeting moment which only the book manages to fix: the word, the gesture, the line that exist fully only on stage find here a lasting trace, through which the whole history of the performance may be read.