Thomas Adrienne

Thomas Adrienne — marelibri

Wise, Thomas A; William A Brady; and Joseph R GrismerABAA

A Gentleman from Mississippi. Founded on The Play of the Same Name Under the Direction ofWm. A.Brady and Jos. R. Grismer

1909réf. 20579New York: J. S. Ogilvioe Publishing Company 1909. Softcover. Good. This softcover novelization of a long running serious drama of the early 20th Century is of interest for two reasons: it contains photos of the young Douglas Fairbanks Sr. who was appearing in the play still in production and while this softcover edition is not a first it is a rare surviving copy of the softbound edition from a "dime novel" and "how to book" publisher who appears to have had a significant niche in theatrical material which as the ads strongly suggest. The theatrical angle could intersect with the dime novel as this novelization exemplifies but also the how-to manual as obscure titles in the ads make plain. 8vo. 18 by 12 cm. 189 7 pp. Four plates all photos of the Broadway play that was still in production. Fairbanks is appears in two of the photographs. Ogilvie issued earlier a hardcover version of this novelization with eight plates. It would be an obvious cost cutting measure to reduce the number of plates when producing a cheap softbound. We note that the plates in our softcover version other than the frontis are placed at different junctures than any in the hardcover. We can not even say that the plates here were among those in the hardcover copy. The hardcover edition did have four pages of advertisements but there is no overlap with the six pages of ads in our copy. We suspect that our copy was hawked primarily at the theater itself and thus the theatrical slant to the ads. A few examples: On the rear cover is a pitch for "The New Mayor" "A Novel Founded upon George Broadhurst's play 'The Man of the Hour". Another page is devoted to a book"The Temptations of the Stage". Even material that at first blush may not be obviously theatrical can turn out to have nuggets that are so. Such is the case with a cheesy how-to book entitled "Old Secrets and New Discoveries" a potpourri of dubious tricks to get your way basically. One of the techniques it supposedly imparts is how to perform the "Spirit Mysteries" like the Davenport Brothers famous Vaudeville magicians. The cover is stained and soiled with a few small chips and other wear. Spine base chip up to and including last two letters of title. The pages are very heavily browned and also brittle as inevitable given the pulpy paper stock used. That said the copy is easily readable and we need not worry about damaging the book by mere touch; the book should be able to withstand careful handling -- requiring no special precautions -- just fine. J. S. Ogilvioe Publishing Company unknown books