Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

The Rock, by T. S. Eliot – FIRST EDITION

$300
£226.97
€261.96
CA$419.02
A$465.87
CHF 243.85
MX$5,713.70
NOK 3,104.86
SEK 2,931.36
DKK 1,954.83
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Eliot, T. S. The Rock; A Pageant Play Written for Performance on Behalf of the Forty-Five Churches Fund of the Diocese of London London: Faber and Faber, 1934. FIRST EDITION, Third impression. Small 8vo, 7 1/2 x 5 inches (190 x 125 mm); 86 pp. Original grey paper-covered boards, blue lettering on spin; original grey dust jacket with white and red lettering, unclipped (price of 2s. 6d. net) with minimal toning and only one small tear in the rear flap panel, else very fresh interior pages evenly toned but clean and binding tight. [Gallup A26a]. This pageant play with words by T. S. Eliot and music by Martin Shaw was first performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London on 28 May 1934. In a prefatory note Eliot disclaimed full responsibility for the text, saying "I cannot consider myself the author of the "play", but only of the words which are printed here." By Eliot's account, the text was written in collaboration with director E. Martin Browne and R. Webb-Odell. It was part of a massive project to fund the construction of forty-five new churches in the Anglican diocese of London. The director E. Martin Browne had been commissioned to stage the pageant and had asked Eliot to write the words for his scenario and provide the choral segments that would unify the sprawling production, which featured some 330 characters played by amateur actors in more than 20 different scenes, each presented as a moment in the construction of the historical church. Eliot's work with Browne on this project led to another successful collaboration, "Murder in the Cathedral," which was commissioned for the Canterbury Festival by the Bishop of Chichester. From the estate of Robert Cecil Bald (1901 – 1965), an Australian scholar of English Literature, who moved to the US to teach at Cornell University in 1937 and was then a professor at the University of Chicago from 1952 to 1965. Condition: Near fine in a Near fine dust jacket.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 7.49 in (19 cm)Width: 4.93 in (12.5 cm)Depth: 0.4 in (1 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1934
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Middletown, NY
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: BH11281stDibs: LU8340243077202

More From This Seller

View All
Poems by T. S. Eliot - First American Edition, 1920
Located in Middletown, NY
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920 First American Edition, 1st Printing. 8vo, 7 1/2 x 5 inches (190 x 127 mm); 63 pp. Ribbed tan paper boards stamped in brown on front cover. Top edges...
Category

Early 20th Century American Books

Materials

Paper

What is a Classic? by T. S. Eliot
Located in Middletown, NY
First Edition, Second Impression. of An address delivered before the Virgil Society on the 16th of October 1944. London: Faber and Faber, 1945. 8vo; 8 1/4 x 5 3/8 inches (218 x 13...
Category

Mid-20th Century English Books

Materials

Paper

The Poems of William Shakespeare, Essex House Press
Located in Middletown, NY
The Poems of William Shakespeare according to the text of the original copies, including the lyrics, songs, and snatches found in his dramas; according to the text of the original co...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century English Books

Materials

Paper

Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson, with Preface by Thomas Carlyle
Located in Middletown, NY
The only book published by the Doves Press by an American author. Hammersmith: The Doves Press, 1906. Small 4to, 9 1/4 x 6.5 in (235 x 166 mm). Pp. xiv, 13...
Category

Early 20th Century English Books

Materials

Gold Leaf

The Poetical Works of the late Thomas Little, Esq. by Thomas MOORE
Located in Middletown, NY
A handsomely-bound collection of juvenile poetry by Thomas Moore (1779 – 1852), published under the pseudonym of Thomas Little due to the eroticism of their content, as Moore's celebration of kisses and embraces was regarded as improper. A relatively successful publication, which was put to an end with the Victorian tight sense of propriety. Thomas Moore was an Irish poet...
Category

Antique Early 19th Century English Books

Materials

Gold Leaf

The Tunning of Elinor Rumming, a Poem by John Skelton
Located in Middletown, NY
Skelton, John The Tunning of Elinor Rumming, a Poem London: Printed for Isaac Dalton, and sold by W. Boreham at the Angel in Pater-Noster-Row, 1718. Second Edition. Octavo, 7 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. (194 x 117 mm). pp. [8], 31, [1]. From the title page: by Skelton Laureat. Original unbound, rebound in modern pink paper over boards, leather spine label with gilt title. Some toning to last few leaves.boards All text is legible, some spot tanning throughout. In near fine condition. Rare. [ESTC N46064 ] ESTC shows two U.S. copies only: Henry E. Huntington Library and Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library; and two British Isles copies only: Oxford University Bodleian Library (both copies). This poem was printed multiple times in the 16th century, including by William Caxton's successor, Wynken de Worde. Rare as a separate volume. John Skelton (c.1463 - 1529) was a remarkable, unusual poet and priest, who had been the tutor of the Tudors, Prince Arthur...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century English Books

Materials

Gold Leaf

You May Also Like

TOLKIEN. The Hobbit. 1937 - 1st ED 2nd IMPRESSION - THE FIRST WITH COLOR PLATES!
Located in Hillsborough, NJ
AUTHOR: TOLKIEN, J. R. R. TITLE: The Hobbit or There and Back Again. PUBLISHER: London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1937. DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION SECOND IMPRESSION AND THE FIRST...
Category

Vintage 1930s British Books

Materials

Leather

Mr. Dooley at His Best, by Finley Peter Dunne Edited by Elmer Ellis
Located in valatie, NY
Mr. Dooley at His Best. Edited by Elmer Ellis at the University of Missouri. With a Foreword by Franklin P. Adams. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938. First edition, 1st printing, one of 520 copies with one page of the author's original manuscript. Frontispiece portrait. 291 pp. Buckram and decorated boards with a leather label. Finley Peter Dunne (1867- 1936) was an American humorist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War, a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley sketches. Speaking with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant from County Roscommon, the fictional Mr. Dooley expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Books

Materials

Paper

Antique Legend of Jubal, George Eliot, English, Bound, Poetry Book, Victorian
Located in Hele, Devon, GB
This is an antique copy of Legend of Jubal by George Eliot. An English language, bound poetry book, dating to the late Victorian period, circa 1880. Under the nom de plume George E...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century British Late Victorian Books

Materials

Paper

1938 The Writings of Gilbert White of Selborne
By Gilbert White
Located in Bath, GB
A smart two volume set of this collection of writings from English naturalist Gilbert White, with illustrations throughout. Folding Maps, Illustrated, Original Binding, Publishers' ...
Category

Vintage 1930s British Books

Materials

Paper

Antique Book, Days of King Arthur, Mythology, English, Fiction, Late Victorian
Located in Hele, Devon, GB
This is an antique mythology book, Days of King Arthur by Charles Henry Hanson. An English language, hard bound fictional work with illustrations by Gus...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century British Late Victorian Books

Materials

Paper

1 Volume. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish.
Located in New York, NY
1 Volume. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish. First Edition. Bound in 3/4 brown morocco with marbled boards. Gilt-tooling on the r...
Category

Antique Mid-19th Century American Books

Materials

Leather