[ F. Britten Austin, novelist. ] Typescripts of acts I and 3 of his unpublished only play, 'The Thing that Matters'. With numerous manuscript additions and directions, plus extra typed material.

126pp., 4to. (Act 1 has 55pp. and Act 3 has 71pp.) Each act bound in grey card covers. Worn and aged, with the remains of the purple ribbon used to bind the leaves into their covers. A heavily reworked typescript. As is customary, the typed text of the play is on the rectos only, but leaves with additional typed and manuscript (presumably autograph) text have been inserted. Numerous manuscript additions and deletions to the text on the rectos, with additional typed passages on pieces of paper laid down onto the facing versos, which also carry further manuscript changes. Austin's name and address are on the title-pages and covers, and the covers also carry the details of his agent Percy Burton, also a motion picture (film) pioneer. Note by Burton in first act: 'NB. The author has agreed with Mr. Burton to allow only one scene to be used right through the play. | P.B.' A contemporary country-house drama, set in 'Sir Arthur Pelham's House, about thirty miles from London'. Austin's obituary in The Times, 13 March 1941, states that 'The Thing that Matters' was Britten's only play, and that it was 'conventional in theme, but well received when Arthur Bourchier and Lady Tree played it in 1921'. No record of publication, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.