[DALY, Augustin.] An illustrated broadside playbill for Daly’s Griffith Gaunt at the Boston Theatre, 15 December, 1866. 6 1/4” x 18 1/4”; large engraved illustration; dated in pencil at the foot. $80
The engraved illustration shows “the duel in the snow” in Daly’s melodrama — a female rider positions herself between the two duelists facing one another.
DANA, Henry, W. L. DRAMA IN WARTIME RUSSIA. New York: National
Council of American-Soviet Friendship, [1943]. Pictorial wraps, a bit stained
and worn; illustrated. $15
An illustrated account of the Soviet theatre, its plays, playwrights,
music, and dance, as a part of the life of the people during the Russian
resistance.
DANA, H[enry] W. L. HANDBOOK ON SOVIET DRAMA. New York: The American Russian Institute, 1938. Pictorial boards; backstrip stained; nick to rear cover. $25
A useful guide to the Soviet stage up to the time of printing interspersed with bibliography and commentary. Many of the references are to Soviet publications, most never translated. The books covered include those on the various arts of the theatre, puppets, circus, film, and dance. This copy carries a signed presentation inscription from the author to Granville Hicks.
DARK, Sidney and Rowland GREY. W. S. GILBERT: HIS LIFE AND LETTERS.
London [and] New York: Methuen [and] Doran, n. d. [1923]. Thick 8vo; frontisportrait;
seven plates to text; a few illustrations in the text. $35
A "genial survey of Gilbert's work, with liberal extracts from plays,
supplemented by letters. Three appendices on the lost Bab Ballads, production
details, and published editions of works (Connolly and Wearing)."
[DARRELL, Maude.] A photographed postcard, inscribed and signed, 1903. A three-quarters image of the music hall star, with a bold and dark signature. $10
D'ARTOIS, [Achille and Théaulon]. LES PARROQUETS DE LA MÈRE PHILIPPE, Vaudeville.... Paris: Barba, 1818. First Edition. Disbound; a trifle dust soiled; light stain to upper fore-corners. $25
A one-act vaudeville, first seen at the Théâtre des
Variétés in June 1818.
[DAVENPORT, E. L.] A tall playbill for Davenport as Dumont in Rowe's Jane Shore at the Boston Academy of Music, 21 February, 1862. Minor creasing; light glue stain at head. $30
James Wallack and William Wheatly performed in both Jane Shore and The Dramatist.
[DAVENPORT, Fanny.] A check in payment of $50 to the actor Frank Willard, boldly signed by Davenport, 4 November, 1894. Pale pink stock; endorsed to reverse; bank's ink stamp and incised cancellation stamp. $25
[DAVENPORT, Fanny.] A check in payment of $88 to Melbourne MacDowell,
boldly signed by Davenport, 5 November, 1894. Pale pink stock; endorsed
to reverse; incised bank cancellation stamp. $25
The actor MacDowell was Davenport's husband at one time.
[DAVENPORT, Fanny.] A photogravure portrait of Davenport as Margaret Gauthier in Camille. [New York]: Gebbie, 1889. 8 1/2" x 11 1/2", plus full margins; a hint of foxing to margins. $10
[DAVENPORT, Mary Anne.] A holograph note presenting the compliments of the Duke of Devonshire and enclosing payment for his box at Davenport's benefit at her retirement from public life, 26 May, 1830. Original folds; very good. $22
[DAVIS’S OLYMPIC CIRCUS.] A tall broadside playbill for Davis and his “unrivalled stud of horses” at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, 15 September, 1823. 7 3/8” x 25”; soft offsetting; two central horizontal creases. $275
The bill heralds the mounting of Dibdin’s equestrian spectacle The Secret Mine with Ducrow as Leader of the Hindoo Cavalry and Decastro as Duban, as well as the inclusion in the stud of “the horses actually rode by the Champion, Lord Howard of Effingham, and others, at the King’s coronation at Westminster.” The scenery, equestrian combats and evolutions, and spectacular incidents are outlined in a variety of typefaces. Davis was one of the foremost equestrians and circus managers of the first quarter of the 19th century, both with his traveling Olympic Circus and in joint management at Astley’s.
DE CASTO, David.
A CARTERIA DE SATAN. Novo Manual de Theurgia e Prestidigitacao. Porto: Lugan and Genelioux, 1888. First Edition. 8vo; original yellow wrappers; engraved illustration to upper cover; spine starting to split at center, numerous engraved illustrations; mild toning to text; uncut. $125
A Portuguese guide to conjuring and hand shadows including recreations in chemistry, physics, and mathematics; parlor tricks; games; deceptions of Serni, Nicolais, Cumberland, Hermann, and others; and “o vasto panorama phantastico” of the conjuring arts. With illustrations of tricks and apparatus, a plate of a shadowgraphic performance, and plates with 38 hand-shadow figures.
DEELMAN, Christian. THE GREAT SHAKESPEARE JUBILEE. New York: Viking, [1964]. Cloth; decorative dustwrapper, a bit worn at ends; decorative endpapers; illustrated. $15
[DEJAZET, Virginie.] A lithographed portrait, “Melle Dejazet, Theatre de S. A. R. Madame.” [Paris]: Engelmann, [c. 1845]. 9” x 12”, including wide margins; faint, scattered foxing; creased to lower corners. $30
[DELILLE, Octavia.] A lithographed portrait, “Melle. Delille rôle de Mary dans Gibby la Cornemuse.” Paris: Martinet-Hautecour, [c. 1850]. 6 3/4” x 10 3/4”, including margins; colored by hand; a trifle fingersoiled. $30
This Galerie Dramatique portrait shows the French singer, full length, in the costume of her role in Leuven and Lhérie’s comic opera (Theatre Royal de l’Opéra Comique, 1846). Delille became a favorite in America following her first New York concert appearance at Metropolitan Hall in December 1851.
DEMBECK, Hermann (Pseud.). MANAGE FREI! Bit Zeichnungen von Heinz Rammelt. Berlin: Buchmeister, [1937]. Pictorial cloth; pictorial dustwrapper, chipped at edges; tear to head of dustwrapper front; light toning to text; illustrated. $20
An account of Continental circus life with a number of line drawings scattered through the text. With the bookplate of George Speaight. §Toole-Stott 205.
[DE OLIVA, Pepita.] The sheet music, “Pepita Album. La Madrilena. Spanische Nationaltänze im K. K. priv. Carl-Theater in Wien....” Vienna: F. Glögl, [c. 1853]. Lithographed cover; light dusting and offsetting; moderate edge wear; four pages of music. $60
The cover depicts Pepita full length, in costume, dancing, hair hanging down her back, castanets in upraised hands.
DESFORGES, [Pierre-Jean-Baptiste]. TOM JONES A LONDRES, Comedie...en Vers, Tiree du Roman de Fielding.... Paris: F.J. Baudoin, 1784. Small 8vo; disbound; stab holes to gutter; engraved head and tail pieces, fine. $120
First performed at the Theatre Italiens on 22 October 1782 with Favard
amongst the cast. Cross lists the 1782, 1785, and 1789 editions. §See
Cross III, p. 355.
DESMOND, Alice C. BARNUM PRESENTS GENERAL TOM THUMB. New York: Macmillan, 1954. First Edition. Decorative cloth; pictorial dustwrapper, with minor edge wear; illustrations to plates; signed presentation copy. $40
A popularized biography of Charles Stratton, containing some new material,
based on unpublished manuscript in the author's possession. §Toole-Stott
2896.
DESPREAUX, Jean Etienne. MES PASSE TEMPS: Chansons suives de l'Art de la Danse, Poëme au Quartre Chants, Calqué sur l'Art Poétique do Boileau Despréaux. Paris: [for the author], 1806. First Edition. 2 vols. Full marbled calf; extremities scuffed; elaborate gilt to spines; double red morocco labels; decorative gilt panels; corners bumped and worn; marbled endpapers; half-titles bound in; engraved frontispiece by Trière after paper-cut silhouette by Despreaux; three headpieces, the first after a silhouette by the author, the second etched by de la Cour after Mazois, the third engraved by Simonet after Moreau le juene; two finely executed engraved plates by Trière after Moreau le jeune, with tissue guards; 24 leaves of engraved music; speckled edges. $525
The first edition of the author's most important book. Despreaux was a dancer at the Paris Opéra from 1764 to 1781, then a composer, and in 1792 a directeur de la scene. He was later an inspector at the Opéra and taught it mantien and dancing at the Conservatoire. He was appointed ballet-master to the Court of France in 1775 and was also a founding member of the celebrated "Dîners du Vaudeville." He was the author of several parodies of popular operas (by Philidor, Piccinni, Rameau, and others). "L'Art de la Danse," a four-part survey, in verse, occupies the second half of Vol. II. The first is a history of dance from the time of Beauchamp up to that of Vestris, Gardel, and Dauberval; the second part gives the characteristics and rules of French and foreign dances; the third deals with theatrical dance and the skills required of a ballet-master; and the final part concerns pantomime and ballet d'action. Included are notes on famous dancers of the 18th century, a list of dancers at the French court, and extensive terminological notes. §Beaumont, pp. 59-60. Niles/Leslie, p. 136. Cohn-Ricci 301. Eitner III, 186. Vicaire III, 231.
[DEULIN, Nicola.] A tall broadside playbill announcing Deulin at the Adelphi Theatre, Edinburgh, 28 June, 1849. 7” x 17 1/2”; some gentle creases; original posting hole near head. $50
The clown and equilibrist Deulin is announced “for the first time, go[ing] through his extraordinary performaces on la corde tendue.”
[DIXEY, Henry.] A program for Dixey in the "fascinating burlesque dream... Adonis," at the Lawrence Opera House, 9 May, [1888]. Folio; decorative title to head; three horizontal creases; mild toning; a bit of wear to fore-edges. $18
DISHER, Maurice Wilson. BLOOD AND THUNDER. Mid-Victorian Melodrama and Its Origins. London: Frederick Muller Ltd., [1949]. Pictorial cloth; pictorial dustwrapper; illustrated. $25
A useful survey with numerous illustrations. English, French, and American
examples are included.
[DIXEY, Henry E.] An autograph letter, signed, by Dixey. Atlantic City: April 18, [19]34. 8vo; hotel letterhead; two horizontal folds. $25
A personable letter addressed to “Sir George.” The actor and impresario Dixey was famous for his Adonis, Seven Ages, Chou Chin Chow, and David Garrick in particular. The first of these made him a matinee idol in 1884 and featured a memorable imitation of Henry Irving. He also performed in several of the earliest American productions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas.
[DIXEY, Henry E.] A four-page program for Dixey and Rice & Dixey’s Big Burlesque Company in Adonis, at Boston’s Hollis Street Theatre, 4 October, 1886. 4to; stiff, blue stock; decorative cover; a hint of foxing; minor mounting trace to gutter of back page. $20
The musical burlesque Adonis (with incidental music by, amongst others, Sullivan, Strauss, Offenbach, and Mozart) catapulted Dixey to fame.
DODSLEY, R[obert]. CLEONE. A Tragedy. London: for R. and J. Dodsley, 1758. Disbound; trifling marginal foxing; music to one leaf. $65
One of the better 18th-century tragedies, praised by Nicoll as one of the few works of the age which catch the true tragic atmosphere. Dodsley states in the prefatory advertisement: “The fable of the following Tragedy is built upon the old legend of St. Genevieve... I shew’d my first Plan of this Piece, which was in three Acts, to Mr. Pope,... who told me, that in his very early youth, he attempted a Tragedy on the same subject, which he afterwards burnt; and it was he advis’d me to extend my Plan to five Acts.” The printed music is provided for the heroine’s song in her mad scene. Appended at the end is “Melpomene: Or the Regions of Terror and Pity.”
DORAT, Claude [and] Claude FAVART. LA CÉLIBATAIRE, Comedie.... Paris: Didot, 1778 [with] LES MOISSONNEURS, Comedie.... Paris: Duchesne, 1768 [with] ANNETTE ET LUBIN, Comedie.... [N.p.: n.d., c. 1762.] Contemporary decorative paper covered boards, rather rubbed; terminal leaf dusted and frayed at fore-edge; third work wanting title-page; engraved music to three leaves. $50
The first piece, by Dorat, was premiered by the Comédiens François
on 20 September, 1775. The second, by Favart and with music by Duni, was
first acted on 27 January, 1768 and the third (also Favart) on January 1762
-- both at the Théâtre Italienne.
DORVIGNY, [Louis-François]. ON FAIT CE QU’ON PEUT, NON PAS CE QU’ON VEUT. Proverbe a Deux Acteurs. Amsterdam and Paris: Ballard, 1780. First Edition. Disbound; wood-engraved vignette to title-page. $40
This piece premiered at the Variétés-Amusantes in November 1779.
DOUTREPONT, Georges. LES ACTEURS MASQUÉS ET ENFARINÉS DU XVIe AU XVIIe SIECLE EN FRANCE. Bruxelles: Maurice Lamertin, 1928. Original printed gray wraps, a trifle toned and frayed at ends; unopened. $30
A 40-page pamphlet containing the text of a paper read by the author,
a professor at the Université de Louvain, in 1926.
[DRURY LANE.] A Drury Lane playbill for Dance’s The Emissary, 14 May, 1831. Minor creasing and wear, primarily to side margins. $20
[DRY, (?).] A juvenile drama portrait, "Mr. Dry as Lambo the Pirate." [London]: J. Fairburn, 1837. A bit of foxing and dusting. $45
The actor stands, legs apart, on a beach, a dagger in his upraised left
hand and a pistol pointed out from his extended right arm.
DRYDEN, [John]. AN EVENING’S LOVE: or, The Mock-Astrologer. London: for Henry Herringman, 1691. Small 4to; disbound; minimal offsetting to some leaves; very good. $125
First printed in 1671. “The preface is Dryden’s first important critical essay on comic themes and gives to this play, which both Pepys and Evelyn denounced as smutty and profane, an importance it would not otherwise have (Pforzheimer).” §Wing D2276. Macdonald 75d.
DRYDEN, John. THE RIVAL LADIES. A Tragi-Comedy. London: for Henry Herringman, 1675. Small 4to; disbound; stain to foot of first signature; minor offsetting. $200
The third edition of Dryden's first published play, but the second to be performed. With the important dedication to the Earl of Orrery in defense of "rhyme." §Wing D2348. Macdonald 67c.
DRYDEN, John. THE RIVAL-LADIES. A Tragi-Comedy. London: for H. Herringman, 1693. Small 4to; disbound; varied foxing. $125
The fourth edition of Dryden’s first published play, but the second to be performed. With the important dedication to the Early of Orrery in defense of “rhyme.” §Wing D2349. Macdonald 67d.
DRYDEN, [John]. SR. MARTIN MARR-ALL: or, The Feign’d Innocence. A Comedy. London: for Henry Herringman, 1691. Small 4to; disbound; 1/2” trimmed at foot of title-page; minor offsetting. $120
One of Dryden’s earliest successful comedies (“I laughed till my head ached all the evening and night” — Pepys) and one which aided in firmly establishing the author’s reputation. This 1691 edition is the first to bear Dryden’s name on the title-page. §Wing D2363. Macdonald 71d.
[DUCHENOIS, Catherine.] A short autograph letter, signed, to M. Raymond. Paris: 18 May, 1822. One leaf; original folds; tear around seal of integral leaf. $100
The great tragedienne addresses Monsieur Raymond at the Théâtres Rue Montmartre concerning Jules Ferrand's proposals for Strasbourg.
[DUCHENOIS, Catherine.] A third-person autograph letter, [c. 1830]. One leaf; mounted to a larger leaf. $100
An interesting third-person letter by the great French tragedienne refering to her leaving the theatre for religious reasons and her subsequent financial problems.
[DUCHENOIS, Catherine.] An engraved portrait of Duchenois as Alzire by Aubert, after Hollier, [c. 1810]. 8 1/2” x 11 3/4”; one light stain (away from figure); light soiling overall. $45
[DUCHESNOIS, Catherine.] A hand-colored lithograph portrait of Duchesnois in the title role of Alzire. Paris: Noel et Cie, [c. 1825].
10 1/2" x 15 1/2"; colored by hand; minimal smudging to lower
margins. $50
The tragedienne is shown full length, standing, wearing a feathered headdress,
short skirt (baring her calves and feet) and a scarf and beads around her
neck (suggesting one bared breast).
[DUCROW, Andrew.] A humorous account of Ducrow at Drury Lane in a complete issue of the British Mercury, London, 27 October, 1824. Folio; minor offsetting and marginal foxing; else very good. $22
[DUCROW, Andrew.] A juvenile drama portrait, "Mr. Ducrow as The Roman Gladiator." [London: M. & M. Skelt, c. 1839.] Trimmed to image; colored by hand; mounted to an album leaf. $100
Ducrow, in bare-breasted costume and a helmet, stands upon the flanks
of a charging horse. He holds a shield on his left arm raised before his
face and a sword down in his right hand.
[DUCROW, Andrew.] A juvenile drama portrait, “Mr. Ducrow as St. George.” [London]: A. Park, [c. 1860]. Minimal dusting at head; very good. $85
[DUCROW, Andrew.] A hand-tinted and tinseled juvenile drama portrait, “Mr. Ducrow as the Tartar Chief.” [London: M. Skelt, c. 1837.] 7 1/2” x 9 1/2” (image); trimmed to image and remounted; hand colored; tinsel, silk, and velvet applied; a few smaller pieces of tinsel flaked away; some embrowning to mount. $425
A very good equestrian portrait showing Ducrow in armor and plumed helmet on horseback, his mount in decorative equipage. Ducrow holds the reins with this left hand and raises a shamshir over his head in his right. There is a fair amount of tinsel on both the figure and the horse as well as hand-painted silk and velvet. The equestrian spectacle Timour the Tartar had been revived at Drury Lane at the time.
DUFRESNY, Charles. L'ESPIRIT DE CONTRADICTION, Comedie.... [Paris: Duchesne, c. 1770.] 12mo; disbound; lower fore corner of terminal leaf torn. $16
A lengthy one-act comedy first performed in 1700.
[DULKEN, Louise.] A manuscript Lord Chamberlain’s license for a concert of vocal and instrumental music to be performed for Dulken’s benefit at the Concert Rooms at the Haymarket, London, 31 May, 1841. Folio; original folds; embossed stamp to upper left; wax seal removed, affecting signature. $45
This license is signed by Uxbridge as Lord Chamberlain.
[DUMAINE, Louis François.] A lithographed portrait, “Dumaine, rôle de Faust.” Paris: Lemercier, [c. 1858]. 8” x 11 1/2”, including margins; thin mounting trace to left edge; image colored by hand. $30
A full-length portrait of the actor in role at the Theatre de la Porte St. Martin. He stands, head turned slightly to the right, one hand resting on a sword and the other on a hip.
[DUMAINE, Louis F.] A lithographed portrait, “Dumaine, Rôle de Satan dans le Paradis Perdu.” Paris: Godard, [c. 1856]. 8” x 11 1/2”, including margins; colored by hand and heightened by gum arabic; minor dusting to edges; image very good with vibrant colors. $30
[DUMONT, Gabriel P. M.] A group of three engraved plates, one large, depicting theatre designs and/or plans by Dumont. [Paris: c. 1770.] Two are 8 3/4” x 14”, third is 17 1/2” x 14”; very good; original vertical folds to large plate. $85
This group consists of two longitudinal sections, one plan for a façade, and three floor plans for a proposed theatre. From Diderot’s Encyclopedie — Salles des Spectacles.
DUNLAP, William. ABAELLINO, THE GREAT BANDIT. A Grand Dramatic Romance. Translated from the German, and adapted to the New-York Theatre. Second Edition. New York: David Longworth, 1807. 24mo; disbound; light to moderate foxing and browning. $65
First performed at New York’s Park Theatre in February 1801 and published the following year. The plot was taken from Heinrich Zschokke. §Hill 70.
DUNLAP, William. A TRIP TO NIAGARA; or, Travellers in America. A Farce. New York: E. B. Clayton, 1830. First Edition. Small 12mo; disbound; restitched; light embrowning to some leaves; untrimmed. $80
Dunlap’s last play, performed at New York’s Bowery Theatre in 1828. It was presented before backdrops of the falls painted by the author. §Hill 92, BAL 5023.
[DURLINA, S.N.] [Master of Soviet Theatre... A. N. Ostrovsky.] [Sketches by Vadima Rudneva.] Moscow: [Krestyanskaya Gazeta], 1939. 4to; original stiff paper wrappers; covers worn and dustsoiled; backstrip frayed; small S.C.R. stamp to cover and title-page; 47 full-page line drawings; contents very good. $40
A series of more than two dozen essays on characters from Ostrovsky’s dramas, paired with 47 full-page line drawings by Rudneva.
[DUSSERT, Marie.] A hand-colored lithograph portrait of Dussert "rôle de la Duchesse de Metz dans la dame des Belles cousines." Paris: Noel et Cie, [c. 1825]. 10 1/2" x 15 1/2"; colored by hand; lightly foxed. $40
The young Théatre du Vaudeville actress is depicted full length,
standing, in long white gown and an ermine-lined red cape, a crown on her
head. D'Artois' one-act vaudeville premiered in May 1823. A richly colored
portrait.
[DUTCH STAGE.] An engraving, "De Abdy-kerk," from a Dutch series of stage scenes, [c. 1760]. 16 1/4" x 13" (image size 9 1/2" x 8"). $150
The scene shows an open nave with actors as two opposing troops of soldiers,
one to either side of the hall, about to set upon one another. To the left
a small group of women, priests, and a child retreat toward a doorway.
[DUTCH STAGE.] An engraving from a Dutch series of stage scenes, "Het Winter-Bosch," [c. 1760]. 16 1/4" x 13" (image size 9 1/2" x 8"). $150
The scene shows a building (perhaps a guard house) in a winter landscape.
In the foreground an actor bows penitently before an officer whose troop
of soldiers stand around them.
[DUTCH STAGE.] An engraving from a Dutch series of stage scenes, “De Tuin,” [c. 1760]. 16 1/4” x 13” (image size 9 1/2” x 8”); slight foxing to outermost right edge. $150
The scene is the central promenade of a hedged garden. To the left are actors as courting lovers and to the right a group of actors congregate around another as an old gentleman, seated, with a spilled basket of flowers at his feet.
[DUVAL, Emile.] A broadsheet poster for the conjuror Duval, known as Anderson, at the Ideal Cinema, Nice, March 1905. 9 1/2" x 25 1/4"; halftone vignette illustration; linen backed; near fine. $175
This bill lists the several illusions making up Anderson's conjuring
entertainment and printed at the bottom are press notices. The vignette
illustration is a bust portrait of Anderson.
[DUVEYRIER, A. -H.] and [A.-F.] VARNER. L'ART DE PAYER SES DETTES. Paris: Riga, 1832. First Edition. Disbound; engraved vignette to title-page; short tear to gutter of text, not affecting text; stitching loosening. $20
A one-act comedic vaudeville first performed at the Théatre du
Vaudeville in December 1831.
[DZERZHINSKY, Ivan I.] [VIRGIN SOIL UPTURNED. Musical Drama....] [Moscow: n. p.], 1937. 4to; stiff wraps; color illustration to upper cover; 1 1/2” tear to head of upper cover; some stains and wear to cover edges; small S.C.R. stamp to cover and first leaf; frontisportrait; 43 halftone illustrations (six full-page); five plates with tipped-on color illustrations; music to two pages. $40
A 46-page publication related to the premier of Dzerzhinsky’s opera Virgin Soil Upturned at the Maly in 1937. The production was mounted by the State Committee for Artistic Affairs to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Revolution. A series of three articles and a plot synopsis are augmented by several illustrations of performers, costumes, settings, and contextual photographs.