FRY

A multi-talented figure, Denis Johnston was a protégé of W. B. Yeats and Bernard Shaw, and had a stormy friendship with Seán O'Casey. Jonathan Swift was a preoccupation of Johnston's (see his 1959 book 'In Search of Swift'), and his play about him, 'The Dreaming Dust', was first produced at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, in 1940. It was published in collections of Johnston's plays in 1954, 1960, 1977 and 1983. This 1988 version remains unpublished. Both typescript and letter in fair condition, lightly aged.

Evidently written out as a gift for Christopher Fry, from whose papersit derives. A 10.5 x 24 cm piece of printed manuscript paper, on grey mount in glazed black wooden 17.5 x 31 cm frame. In good condition. Signed at top right 'Richard Kayne.' Towards top left: 'The Lady's Not For Burning. | Chichester, 1972.' Within the uppermost of three lines of staves Kayne has written and underlined 'THE LADY THEME'. The central stave contains the opening bars, for alto flute.

Both items in good condition, lightly aged. PAMPHLET: 12pp, 8vo. Stapled in green wraps, printed on both sides of covers, and with drawing of Shaw by Hadfield, dated 1974, on front cover. Containing a few autograph emendations. Inscribed on front cover: 'To Christopher Fry, | from | Alan Hadfield, | Greetings! | Feby 1975'. A quirky and highly personal response to Shaw, combining anecdote, reminiscence and original poetry.

Stanford's study of Fry in the British Council's 'Writers and their Work' series was re-published several times, and the early letters in the present collection refer to the preparation of the fourth edition, published by Longmans in 1971 (the bibliography to which Stanford refers as 'CHRISTOPHER STATE PAPERS'). A total of twenty-six items. The material in good condition, lightly aged. Stanford's nineteen letters total 65pp, 12mo. In an undisciplined hand, in different-coloured ink, on different-coloured paper. Stanford's 19 letters between 17 February 1970 and 31 October 1978.

See the appreciative obituary of Lowbury by Christopher Hawtree, Guardian, 15 October 2007. Nineteen items, five of which are accompanied by envelopes addressed to Fry at his home The Toft, East Dean, Chichester, Sussex. The material is in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Edward Lowbury's ten ALsS and one ACS, 1972-1989, with one undated Christmas card. A total of 17pp, 12mo.

A very nice artefact relating to a beautiful Rampant Lions production, published in 1975. Printers' dummy, produced to indicate the intended layout of the book, consisting of duplicated typed leaves, with emendations and printing instructions in manuscript, showing the intended arrangement of the 125 pages of letterpress (and including an alternative version of p.78), with eleven illustrations loosely interleaved. In good condition, lightly aged and worn.

24pp, 4to. Stapled pamphlet. Aged, and with spotting to covers, creased closed tear at foot of spine, and slight loss to bottom out corner of back cover. With one vertical fold. The cover is printed in black, with a charming cartoon by 'C. F.' in red ink of five happy birds singing and flying around with musical scores in wings, with one bird on box with conductor's baton tapping a music stand.

In folding box, dark blue, gt. 79pp, 8vo. In plain white card wraps, in blue dustwrapper printed in black, with red border to cover. Ownership inscription in blue ink on front free endpaper: 'Christopher Fry | 1930'. Hardly the best of copies, but a good association between two of the three giants of the twentieth-century English verse play (Eliot being the other). Internally tight, on lightly-aged paper, in aged and worn wraps. The dustwrapper is in poor condition, stained, chipped, and separated into several loose parts along the folds, with spine and back cover tipped-in onto the wraps.

Both items scarce, with no copies showing up on OCLC WorldCat. ONE: 'Weathers | Poetry and Watercolors by Charles E. Wadsworth'. [4] + 41 + [1]pp, 4to. With seven full-page reproductions of watercolours. Ring-bound in cream covers, with title printed on front cover in brown. Text printed on rectos only. In good condition, bumped at head of spine, with a little marking to covers. Inscribed on fly-leaf: 'For Christopher to enjoy | from | Waddy and Jeannie | Cranberry Isles | Maine, U.S.A.' Colophon gives short biography of Wadsworth, with an even shorter one of his brother Geoffrey C.

Possibly the author's first book (see below), from the Christopher Fry papers (despite the ownership inscription). 54pp, 12mo. Stapled into green printed wraps (title and words '(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)'). Tiny ownership signature in initials ('R. G.') in top right-hand corner of title-page. No details of publication or date, other than the printers' slug at bottom left of title-page.

From the Christopher Fry papers. PLAY: [1] + 47pp, 12mo. Stapled into buff wraps printed in red, including the statement that it is the 'Friends of Canterbury Cathedral Edition'. In fair condition, lightly aged, in worn wraps, with a trace of rust to staples. This edition of the play (the first?) is uncommon: the only copies on OCLC WorldCat at the British Library and University of British Columbia. COPY LETTER: 4pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Written out in two hands, Recipient not named. With salutation 'Dear Sir,' and valediction 'I am | Yrs truly,'.

103pp, 8vo. Revises of the text of the play (and not the prelims) in unbound signatures. In fair condition, lightly aged. Red ink stamp at foot of pp.1 and 40: '15 APR 1954 | REVISE'. Numerous autograph emendations, nearly all minor and relating to accidentals, but with five verbal changes, of which the following two are the most significant. Printed on p.9: 'KASSEL. Well, Bella, does she seem to be in trouble? | BELLA. She says the only trouble is us who trouble ourselves.' amended in autograph to 'KASSEL. Well, Bella, where has she been/ | BELLA.

Seven items from the Christopher Fry papers, relating to the film 'A Queen Is Crowned', which was a British box office hit in coronation year, and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. At the time of writing Fry was at the height of his popularity: around this time he had four plays running in the West End at once.

3pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. A long and entertaining letter, beginning: 'Dear Mr. Fry, | Probably late in 1949, in a New York City duplex living room, two married couples lay prone on the floor, fanned out around a single copy of “The Lady's Not for Burning”, the better to read aloud all its colorful roles. The couples were Alfred Drake (with whom I had played the previous season in my first Broadway play), his wife, my writer husband [i.e. Robert Presnell Jr] and I.

Fourteen items, including three letters from Starkie and seven letters from the Oxford University Press – five of them from Geoffrey Cumberlege and two from G. W. S. Hopkins – and copies of two letters from Cumberlege to Fry's agent Emanuel Wax, and a copy of a letter from the OUP to Starkie. All dating from 1955. The collection is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The three Starkie letters are all in autograph, and total 7pp. The first two are written from Madrid, and the last from the Athenaeum in Pall Mall.

Fourteen items, all 8vo. Seven numbers (4-9 and 16) are 16pp; number 17 is 26pp; other numbers range from 8 to 12pp, except for the 'B.M.S. Gazette Supplement' (30 March 1926) which has 4pp. The first five numbers on cheap newspaper stock; from the sixth number onwards the paper quality improves. Number 17 ('Special Christmas Number') has lost its back cover. The other thirteen numbers are complete. A frail survival, in fair overall condition, on aged and worn paper. Numbers 4-11 with 'Eagle' masthead, otherwise no settled layout.

Seven volumes, the first three in 4to, the last four small 4to, ranging in length from 32pp to 44pp. Each stapled into coloured printed wraps, the first six carrying a stylised drawing of a boy doing a jump (from a springboard). In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with rusted staples. Each volume is filled with prose, poetry, illustration and photographs by a number of different contributors, including pieces taken from public school magazines. The only unattributed items are the book reviews, which are clearly the work of Fry himself.

The book is 272pp, 8vo. A good copy, lightly aged, with binding sunned along top, in worn dustwrapper. The volume contains – along with autograph corrections of incidentals – a couple of autograph notes in pencil, one of a minor nature and the other reading: 'Daisy & Charles attended the funeral – March 26 – as recorded in Archibald Marshall's diary'; also one minor emendation in ink. The material inserted in the volume is described below. Accompanying the volume is a long typewritten radio script of an interview between Fry and 'Leslie', with autograph additions in pencil by Fry.

In addition to his distinguished career as a playwright, Fry had some success in Hollywood. He completely rewrote (uncredited) the screenplay of 'Ben-Hur' (1959), and was responsible for the screenplay of the Dino De Laurentiis epic 'The Bible: In the Beginning' (1966), directed by John Houston. The present item is a treatment for a film that did not make it into production. It is [1] + 71pp, 8vo. Each page on a separate loose leaf. With thin card covers, also loose, the front cover carrying a duplication of the title-page, and the back cover blank. In good condition, lightly aged.

The item would appear to relate to William Gaskill's 1984 Chichester Festival production of Congreve's 'Way of the World', in which Joan Plowright played Lady Wishford, and John Moffatt played Witwoud, although it is not clear why Fry should have been making directorial suggestions in this case. 2pp, 8vo. Written in pencil. In fair condition, aged and worn. Folded twice. From the Fry papers, and so possibly either a draft or not sent. The identity of the recipient is not clear.

43 letters in 8vo and 12mo, making a total of 44 pp. Signed 'Rolando Pieraccini' and (latterly) 'Rolando'. Thirteen of the letters (1984-1986; all 8vo) on 'Eurographica' letterhead, the others (1986-1996; 27 in 12mo and 3 in 8vo) on Pieraccini's personal letterhead. Also present is a carbon copy of a two-page letter from Pieraccini to Penny Eckley of Oxford University Press, regarding copyright matters. The collection in good condition, lightly-aged.

Photostat pages of the first part of Christopher Fry's screenplay of the lavish 1966 American-Italian 20th Century Fox religious epic film 'The Bible: In the Beginning...', produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Huston. [2] + 7pp, 4to. Photostats of a typescript, on seven leaves.

Guttman was, as one of his wife's letters in this collection states, Fry's 'prophet' in Holland, supporting his work from the earliest days. In 1961 Guttman directed the world premiere of Fry's 'Curtmantle' at Tilburg, and in 1981 he directed a production of 'The Lady's not for Burning' in Vienna. The collection is in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. The letters are all in English, long and intimate, addressed to 'Kit' and sometimes to 'Phyl', i.e. Fry's wife Phyllis.

An interesting correspondence on theatre matters, from one of Canada's most influential critics and designers to 'a favourite poet', the English verse dramatist Christopher Fry. Whittaker discusses, among other matters, mutual acquaintances including Sir John Gielgud and Leonard White, past productions of Fry's plays, a 1998 meeting with the playwright at his West Dean home, and a reading he organises of Fry's 'A Ringing of Bells' at the Toronto Arts and Letters Club. The eight letters are in good condition, lightly aged.

Nine items, all in good condition. All of the letters are signed 'Anthony', and four of them (two autograph and two typed) are each 1p, 8vo. The other letter, in autograph, is 1p, 16mo. With four items of material relating to Hostage Action Worldwide. The first letter (11 May 1989) accompanies 'our first reply to our first 350 donors – we're hoping to build rapidly now'. He reports that 'The Archbishop of Canterbury has this week responded positively to us and appointed a man, John Lyttle to our Advisory Council.

Three items (letter, photographic card, and pamphlet), all in good condition. ONE: ALS. 31 December 1954. 1p, 8vo. Signed '(Mrs.) Rita Spurr.' and addressed to 'Dear Mr. Christopher Fry'. She begins by thanking him 'for the very great pleasure & stimulus' which she derived 'during the year that is passed' from his play 'The Dark is Light Enough'.

Both items in good condition, but the postcard (of a Viennese street scene) with stamp torn off. ONE: ALS. Signed 'Walter (Rilla)'. Vienna; 7 November 1966. 1p, 8vo. Twenty-six lines of text, in a neat close hand.

1p, 8vo. In good condition. Folded twice. With secretarial note in blue pencil, recording response by 'C.F.' The letter concerns Fry's screenplay for the 1966 film 'The Bible: In the Beginning...', produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Huston, which recounts the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis. Stallworthy wonders whether Fry remembers 'that, “in the dark backward and abyss of time”, the OUP wanted to publish your screen-play for the film of Genesis, but the film company's lawyers wouldn't allow it.

Five items in good condition, all lightly aged. ONE: ACS. Signed 'Kathy'. 1 March 1990. Clearly a covering note on sending the other material. Simply reads: 'Good to speak – | love | Kathy'. TWO: Duplicated copy of typescript of speech by 'Fr. John Gilling'. Headed: 'REQUIEM MASS: St. Mary the Virgin, Bourne Street. 7th February 1990. | JONATHAN GRIFFIN'. 2pp, 8vo.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly-aged. Folded three times. Sixteen-line poem, neatly typed (with one error overtyped an autograph proof mark separating two words) titled 'For Andrew Young. 1885-1971.' Signed at bottom 'Richard Church.' A charming poem, which was published in the Cornhill Magazine in 1971.