2.898 Ergebnisse
1973Best.-Nr. 22495Rushden: Sceptre Press 1973. First edition. 12mo. Fine in printed wrappers. One of 100 of 150 numbered copies. Translated from the original German by Eric W. White. Rushden: Sceptre Press unknown books
Best.-Nr. 31428n.p.: n.p. Privately printed. Sheet Music. Sheet music very good. The sheet was kept in an ancient manilla folder stamped "Pierre Degeytter Club of N. Y." and it is possible that the club produced this for their own use. Brecht's name does not appear anywhere on the sheet. ; 4to 11" - 13" tall; 4 pp . n.p. unknown books
1960Best.-Nr. 23381New York: Greenwich Book Publishers. 1960s. Softcover. Wraps a near fine copy of this program that shows photos of both Hughes and Brecht on front wrap.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 8 pp . Greenwich Book Publishers paperback books
1961Best.-Nr. 22262Hamburg: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co. 1961. Hardcover. Pink cloth printed in black issued without dust jacket near fine with front board a tiny bit sprung one of 750 copies signed by Hansen-Bahia whose woodcuts appear throughout the book. In near fine cardboard slipcase. ; 4to 11" - 13" tall . Dr. Ernst Hauswedell & Co. hardcover books
1982Best.-Nr. 010077Wiesbaden Berlin and Kassel: Harlekin Art Berliner Kunstlerprogramm Des DAAD 1982. First Edition. Paperback. Very Good/No. First edition. Fantastic 377 pp catalogue documenting twenty years of fluxus. Profusely illustrated. The Spirit of Fluxus booklet tipped in at rear. Very good condition in tall thick bound wrappers. Harlekin Art Berliner Kunstlerprogramm Des DAAD paperback books
1965Best.-Nr. 34191Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag 1965. All are first editions except Vol I and IX. 12 vols. 12mo. Patterned paper over boards title labels. Fine in almost fine dust jackets 2 are torn. Lower board of Vol. W bowed. All are first editions except Vol I and IX. 12 vols. 12mo. Suhrkamp Verlag unknown books
1982Best.-Nr. 452New York: The Limited Editions Club 1982. Very Good. 4to; 155 p. Illustrated with an original lithograph on Rives by Jack Levine. Signed on colophon by artist Jack Levine and author of introduction Eric Bentley. Black cloth in slipcase; VG. Slip case dusty. One of 2000 copies. The Limited Editions Club hardcover books
1949Best.-Nr. 00289Berlin: Volk Und Wissen Verlag 1949. FIRST EDITION. Paperback. Wrappers somewhat browned at extremities. Pages slightly tanned. A very good copy. Volk Und Wissen Verlag paperback books
1948Best.-Nr. 77287minneapolis: University of Minnesota 1948. hardcover. very good/very good-. Transl. by E. & M. Bentley. Slim 8vo cloth d.w.; lightly worn dust wrapper chipped. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 1948. Two plays by Brecht in one volume. 1. The Good Woman of Setzuan. 2. The Caucasian Chalk Circle. A very good copy in a very good- dust wrapper. University of Minnesota unknown books
1955Best.-Nr. 22002Berlin: Eulenspiegel 1955. First Edition. Very good/very good. 4to. Black cloth boards moderately rubbed and bumped in black and white photographic dust jacket. Some chipping and scuffing to edges and corners of jacket. A little creasing to endpapers; pages lightly toned. Very good overall. In German. "War primer" made up of poems commentary and little dialogues by Brecht overlaying or facing reproduced black-and-white news photographs. Prefatory paragraph and dust jacket copy by Ruth Berlau. Eulenspiegel hardcover books
1967Best.-Nr. 19043New York Toronto Frankfurt: Something Else Press 1967. First edition. Cloth. Very Good/very good. 8vo. Unpaginated artist book collaboration between Brecht and Filliou. A very good clothbound copy in very good unclipped dustwrapper. Some toning at spine of book and wrapper. A solid collectible copy of a book that is difficult to describe. Illustrated with drawings and photographs. Something Else Press hardcover books
2000Best.-Nr. 17992Koln: Lempertz Contempora 2000. First edition. Paperback. Very Good . Wide paperbound octavo. 67 pp. Illustrated in color. Text in German by Roger Goepper. A clean very good or better copy of this catalog from a Koln exhibition in 2000. This copy INSCRIBED by Brecht in year of publication to Patrick Hughes. Books signed or inscribed by Brecht are uncommon in the marketplace. Lempertz Contempora paperback books
1978Best.-Nr. 28966Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag 1978. First edition. Paperback. Very Good. Thick pocket paperbound book. 441 pp. Text in English. The correct first printing of this book which discusses the Original Theatre of the City of New York from the mid-60's to the mid-70's. A few pages towards the back of the book are slightly corner creased else this is a sound very good or better example. Scarce title. Suhrkamp Verlag paperback books
1928Best.-Nr. 2315Wien: Universal-Edition 1928. First edition. Original wrappers. Very Good. THE RARE FIRST EDITION OF "THE THREEPENNY OPERA" A CLASSIC OF THE MODERN STAGE ALONG WITH THE BOOKLET OF SONGS FROM THE PLAY THAT WAS PUBLISHED TO MARK ITS HUNDREDTH PERFORMANCE; BOTH ITEMS IN FINE CONDITION IN THE ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS AND BOTH WITH THE OWNERSHIP INSCRIPTION OF CHARLOTTE GROTE-HASELBALG ONE OF THE ACTRESSES WHO PLAYED POLLY PEACHUM IN THE PLAY'S ORIGINAL 1928 RUN. In 1926 after a brief career in journalism a stint in the Army at the end of World War I and almost a decade of work in the theater Bertolt Brecht born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht discovered a new source of inspiration for his plays. "In 1926 . while researching material for a play about the Chicago grain exchange Brecht discovered the writings of Karl Marx and the theory of dialectics. The play was never completed but in Marx Brecht found what he regarded as the key to understanding the world around him and to the historical process as well as a framework and structure for his own writing." Non & Nick Worrall eds. Bertold Brecht: The Threepenny Opera 2005. He remained a committed Marxist through his life although he apparently never joined the Communist Party. Marxist dialectics typically do not have much entertainment value yet somehow Brecht managed to transmute his ideological preoccupations into one of the most rousing amusing cynical and entertaining plays of the twentieth century - the work offered here. As Harold Clurman recognized in the quotation above the play is very much of its time first performance 1928 - capturing the hysteria despair and cultural experimentation of the Weimar era - yet universal in its relevance and appeal. Brecht developed innovative theatrical techniques to communicate with his audiences. "He drew up a rough-and-ready yet basic distinction between the old Aristotelean theatre which he generally called 'dramatic' . and his own new theatre which he called 'epic.' . Brecht found in epic writing an objectivity an ability of the author to stand back and comment on the action which attracted him. He wanted to make his audience think not just feel; to find ways of thinking that would enable them to apply those processes to their real worlds and therefore act as a force for change in society." Id. In order to force the audience to think about the action rather than passively absorbing it Brecht used various devices to keep the audience members aware that what was before them was after all only a play. He referred to this process as Verfremdung a term that is sometimes translated as "alienation" but might more accurately be rendered as "defamiliarization" or "distancing." The devices he used for this purpose included putting the orchestra in full view of the audience; having the curtain conceal only part of the stage; using projected signs that anticipated summarized or commented on the action; and constructing the play from paratactic scenes without a smooth flow between them "montage". The Play: Die Dreigroschenoper was adapted by Brecht with some assistance from the translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and with music written by Kurt Weill from John Gay's "A Beggar's Opera." He maintained the original English setting but transposed the action from the early 18th century to the Victorian era. Both eras offered an abundance of rascality at all levels of society that enabled Gay and then Brecht to convey their implicit message that there was at bottom not all that much difference between the high life and the low life. The play opens at a fair in Soho. The stage directions indicate that "The beggars are begging the thieves are stealing the whores are whoring. A ballad singer sings a ballad." This and other quotations from the play are from the translation by Ralph Mannheim and John Willett. The ballad is the famous "Moritat von Mackie Messer" - a song that in a somewhat softened English version and as sung by Frank Sinatra Bobby Darin Louis Armstrong and a host of others became the perennial favorite "Mack the Knife." Mackie is the master criminal MacHeath. His character is suggested by a couple of verses from the Moritat: On a beautiful blue Sunday See a corpse stretched in the Strand. See a man dodge round the corner Mackie's friends will understand. And Schmul Meier reported missing Like so many wealthy men: Mac the Knife acquired his cash box. God alone knows how or when. MacHeath it transpires is romantically involved with Polly Peachum the daughter of the second principal character and foil to MacHeath Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum. "His business is trading in misery and guilt. He has divided London into fourteen districts and for a sizable fee and a percentage of the earnings licenses beggars to ply their trade in a particular area. His emporium is also a theatrical outfitters in that he supplies the beggars with customers and properties designed not to horrify but to elicit sympathy from passers-by. . Independent beggars are beat up by Peachum's employees and forced to join the equivalent of a beggars' trade union." Worrall op. cit. The play proceeds through a series of crimes and misdemeanors betrayals double and triple crosses and dirty tricks reminiscent of the more sophisticated but no less amoral behavior of Peachum and MacHeath's betters in Parliament industry the Church and the military. In the final scene MacHeath sentenced to death is awaiting his execution when a messenger arrives: "I bring a special order from our beloved Queen to have Captain Macheath set at liberty forthwith - All cheer. - as it's the coronation and raised to the hereditary peerage. Cheers. The castle of Marmarel likewise a pension of ten thousand pounds to be his in usufruct until his death." Good news all around although as Peachum cautions the audience "Saviours on horseback are seldom met with in practice." Stephen Parker in his biography Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life 2014 describes the origins of the play as follows: "Elisabeth Hauptmann had been translating from English into German John Gay's satirical ballad opera of 1728 The Beggar's Opera a parody of Italian opera style. She had told Brecht of the huge success of the revival at London's Lyric Theatre where it had run since 1920 for an astonishing 1463 performances. Instead of the usual grand music and themes of opera Gay's work relied on everyday tunes and characters. . The audience could sing along to the music and enjoy the characters in this satire about corruption at all levels of society." "Brecht had scarcely touched the material when one day . in the spring of 1928 Ernest Josef Aufricht asked him if he had a new play for the re-opening of the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm . Brecht quickly convinced him that his adaptation of The Beggar's Opera was the very thing." "The material was right up Brecht and Weill's street. However it would have to be re-cast substantially to make it work as a satire of modern society. . For both Weill and Brecht it was . an opportunity to break down barriers between elite and popular art. . In Gay's gangster Macheath Brecht encountered an irresistible hedonistic outsider in the same mould as his great early creations. Of course when Brecht wrote about the project for German critics in January 1929 he pointed to the serious underlying message . However . his fascination with the amoral outsider produced a gangster whose courage and magnetic attraction outweighed the anti-capitalist message. Brecht knew exactly how to make him part of an unforgettable theatrical experience. He would never again allow his audience to enjoy themselves in such an unfettered way." "Brecht and Hauptmann made rapid progress on the text and Weill began composing the music in April 1928. Brecht and Hauptmann had a first draft ready for the playbook by early May. Weill's playful quirky tunes were the perfect foil for the savage lyrics. Weill imbued the form of the ballad opera with his contemporary style drawing on jazz and dance music." The play was an unqualified success. "The Threepenny Opera was performed at the Theater am Schifffbauerdamm for the whole of the 1928-9 season and enjoyed phenomenal success throughout Germany. By January 1929 there were productions at nineteen German theatres as well as in Prague Budapest and Vienna. In all there were 4200 performances in 1928-9 . The Threepenny Opera rapidly became an international success. . Success in the USA would have to wait until the famous production in Marc Blitzstein's translation which ran at New York's Theater de Lys from 1954 to 1961. . Today The Threepenny Opera remains one of the world's most performed musical dramas." The work offered here is the true first edition of the libretto of Die Dreigroschenoper described on the cover as follows: Bert sic Brecht & Kurt Weill "Die Dreigroschenoper The Beggar's Opera: Ein Stück mit Musik in einem Vorspiel und acht Bildern nach dem Englischen des John Gay. Übersetzt von Elisabeth Hauptmann . Universal Edition - Wien Leipzig Nr. 8850." See "Sources and Genesis of 'Die Dreigroschenoper'" in Stephen Hinton "Kurt Weill: Threepenny Opera" Cambridge Opera Handbooks 1990 at 13 describing the first edition. Hinton states that the first issue of 300 copies was reprinted twice in printings of 500 copies each in November 1928 and December 1929. In the present copy there is a publisher's imprint on the rear wrapper ending in "2338 28". Other copies have the imprint ending in "1398 29" and it has been generally understood that ones with "28" are from 1928; while copies with the "29" are from 1929. Regarding the two 1928 printings however we have not been able to determine definitively in what ways if any they differ. However the rubber-stamped number "225" appears on the front wrapper and in the margin of page 31 of our copy. Similar stamps appear on other copies of the first edition that have appeared on the market and may indicate the numbering of the 300 copies comprising the first printing. The cover of the first edition states: "Den Bühnen gegenüber als Manuskript Gedruckt" "Printed as a manuscript for theatres" - i.e. originally intended for use in connection with productions of the play rather than for sale although some copies were apparently sold. It is reasonable that an edition of only 300 copies intended primarily for use by performers directors etc. would be numbered so that the copies could be tracked and retrieved and redistributed as necessary. Perhaps the edition became repurposed in light of the popularity of the play and the subsequent 500 copies from 1928 were printed primarily for sale to the public in which case there would be no need to number them. These indications are far from definitive but they perhaps constitute circumstantial evidence that numbered copies are from the first issue. Additional circumstantial evidence that this copy is from the first issue is provided by its ownership by a person associated with the original production as described below. The libretto is offered here with the pamphlet "Die Songs der Dreigroschenoper. Zur 100. Aufführung der Dreigroschenoper dem Publikum überreicht vom Theater am Schiffbauerdamm" copyright date 1928. "The Songs of the Threepenny Opera. Presented to the audience by the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm for the 100th performance of the Threepenny Opera." It would appear to be distinct from the issue of 10000 copies prepared for public distribution Item 105 in Walter Nudel's "Bertolt Brecht - Bibliographie" in the journal Sinn und Form's special issue on Brecht 1957; see also Hinton op cit. page 13 and Gero von Wilpert & Adolf Gühring Erstausgaben Deutscher Dichtung: Eine Bibliographie zur Deutschen Literatur 1600-1990 2d ed. 1992 at 183 No. 13. Both works have the ownership signature of "Charlotte Grote-Haselbalg" on the title page of Die Dreigroschenoper and on the half-title of the songbook. Charlotte Grote-Haselbalg also known as Charlotte Andersch the name under which she was born Charlotte Haselbalg and Charlotte Ander was a German stage and film actress of the early twentieth century credited with a lengthy list of movie roles in both the silent and sound eras. One of her stage roles was Polly Peachum MacHeath's lover in the original production of Die Dreigroschenoper. Carola Neher who had been selected to play Polly Peachum in the 1928 production "had to go to Switzerland to tend to her dying husband the poet Klabund with the result that she arrived two weeks late for rehearsal and felt obliged to abandon the role. She was replaced by Roma Bahn who learned the part in four days." Worrall op cit. Bahn is in fact listed as Polly in the playbill for the play's premiere; however Ander performed the role at least once during the play's original run. The media biographer and historian Kay Weniger in his 2008 work "Zwischen Bühne und Baracke: Lexikon der Verfolgten Theater- Film- under Musikkünstler 1933-1945" a collection of biographies of performers who suffered under Nazi persecution notes that "mit der Polly Peachum in einer Aufführung von Brechts-Weills 'Dreigroschenoper' in Ernst Josef Aufrichts Threatre an Schiffbauerdamm spielte sie 1928 ihre wichtigste und schönste Bühnenrole vor dem Machtantritt der Nazis." As "Polly Peachum in a performance of Brecht-Weill's Threepenny Opera in Ernst Josef Aufricht's Theatre an Schiffbauerdamm in 1928 she Anders played her most important and most beautiful stage role before the Nazis came to power." According to Weniger Anders had been threatened by the Nazis with a boycott due to an affair with a Jewish businessman and later was accused of threatening to dismiss any members of her household who voted for Hitler in the 1933 election. She found it expedient to flee Germany for England although she later returned due to a lack of adequate roles before the declaration of war between the two countries. Die Dreigroschenoper: Wien - Leipzig: Universal-Edition 1928. Octavo original printed wrappers. Near-fine condition with only very light general wear. Die Songs Der Dreigroschenoper: Potsdam: Gustav Kiepenheuer 1928. Twelvemo original printed wrappers. A touch of restoration at hinges otherwise near-fine. Housed together in custom cloth box with leather label. RARE FIRST EDITION IN OUTSTANDING CONDITION OF A 20TH-CENTURY MASTERPIECE WITH A NOTED PROVENANCE. Universal-Edition unknown books
1962Best.-Nr. 16655Berlin und Frankfurt on Main: Suhrkamp Verlad and Editora Brasiliense 1962. First edition. Cloth. Very Good . Oblong folio in slipcase. Text in German and Portugese Introductory text by Tatiana Belinky. Loose sheets in folio. Illustrated with vinte e quartro gravuras by Gerson Knispel. Number 210 of quinhentos exemplares. Although not called for this copy has been SIGNED by the artist. Quite scarce thus. A poem written bt Brecht in 1941 while in refuge in Finland. Contents fine. Cloth slipcase shows some wear and toning. A large and somewhat awkward production measuring 12 1/2 x 18" wide. Handsome production values employed. Gorgeous gravuras by Israeli artist Knispel. Please note: this is a large and heavy volume. Additional shipping charges will apply for international orders. Suhrkamp Verlad and Editora Brasiliense hardcover books
1966Best.-Nr. S11452New York:: Grove Press 1966. 1966. Sm. 8vo. 155 pp. Printed wrappers; rubbed. Grove Press, (1966). unknown books
1963Best.-Nr. 23017Metuchen: George Brecht and Fluxus Editorial Council for Fluxus 1963. First edition. Loose Sheets. Very Good. Tall single double-sided sheet of fragile paper. Offset lithograph. Measures 9 3/4 x 12 3/4" tall. The antecedant issue of what would become the central periodical of the Fluxus movement. Paper is toned with age and has some minor paper loss at bottom. A better than typical example of this rare early piece of Fluxus ephemera. Not dated but from circa 1963. This unnumbered issue of V TRE precedes cc V TRE #1. Includes brief contributions by Ruth Krauss Claes Oldenburg Diter Rot Robert Morris and others. George Brecht and Fluxus Editorial Council for Fluxus unknown books
1998Best.-Nr. 50169London : Libris 1998. First thus. Softcover. Very good/No jacket issued. London : Libris 1998. First thus. Copious b/w illustrations. 85 plts xxiv pp. Softcover. Large 4to. Orange/pink illustrated stiff wrappers. Fresh clean and square. A very good copy. Very good/No jacket issued. Libris paperback books
1964Best.-Nr. 71789NY:: Viking Press. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1964. Hardcover. B0007E9ERY . First edition. Very good in a very good a few short closed edge tears price clipped dust jacket. . Viking Press, hardcover books
1938Best.-Nr. 18323New York: Hillman-Curl Inc. Very Good in Poor dj. 1938. 1st U.S. edition. Hardcover. book itself is solid and internally clean some soiling and light shelfwear to top and bottom edges; the jacket however has had about as many bad things done to it as you can imagine: it's been laminated which has resulted in considerable yellowing/discoloration trimmed a bit along the top and bottom edges and the flaps are glued to the pastedowns; some of the laminate has also been peeled away which doesn't help matters much. A novelization essentially of Brecht and Kurt Weill's "The Threepenny Opera." Jacket-blurbed as "an unashamed and outrageous epic of roguery triumphant -- a rollicking full-blooded story whole-hearted in its descriptions of rascality and corruption" this translation was first published in England in 1937 by Robert Hale. A not-especially-pretty example of a fairly scarce book. . Hillman-Curl, Inc. hardcover books
1972Best.-Nr. 21508New York: The Vanishing Rotating Triangle 1972. First edition. Paperback. Very Good. Tall side-stapled wrappers with mylar cover. 21 pp mostly text with one image. The text describes of the images visible during one of the rare performances of Deafman Glance by Robert Wilson in 1971. It is the first section of a much larger essay. Contents in fine condition. Dark mylar sleeve has some chipping at edges. Scarce item. The Vanishing Rotating Triangle paperback books
1950Best.-Nr. 13526Pleasanton: Matrix 1950. First edition. Paperback. Very Good . 8vo. Literary magazine edited by J. Moray Frank Brookhouser and S. E. Mackey. Containing stories poems and reviews. Front cover illustration by Mackey. A clean very good plus copy. Matrix paperback books
1965Best.-Nr. 52304NY:: Viking Press. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1965. Hardcover. First edition. Very good in a very good age toning lower corner of front flap is clipped dust jacket. . Viking Press, hardcover books
1968Best.-Nr. 0088851968. Original offset lithograph poster on thick paper for the 1968 New York Broadway production of the 1941 play by Bertold Brecht. 29 7/8"h x 20"w. Near Fine toning verso not affecting image. A striking and vibrantly colorful poster by Richard Lindner 1901-1978 a German born American artist best known for his erotic portraits. Well suited for framing will be shipped loosely rolled in sturdy mailing tube. . First Printing. Poster. Near Fine. 29 7/8"h x 20"w. books
1993Best.-Nr. 277074Norwalk: Easton Press 1993. hardcover. fine. In the English Version by Desmond Vesey with the English Lyrics. 155 pages illustrations and an original lithograph by Jack Levine. Thin 4to gilt stamped brown leather all edges gilt. Easton Press 1993. Fine. Easton Press unknown books
