Craig, Edward Gordon

Florence: Arena Goldoni, March 1908 - November/December 1929. Florence: Arena Goldoni, March 1908 - November/December 1929. The complete run of eighty-seven numbers, bound in sixteen volumes (including the separately bound set of 1911-1915 covers) with all original wrappers preserved. The first three volumes (1908-1911) are 4tos, the rest 8vos. Vols. 1-8 and volume of covers bound in publisher's binding of vellum-backed boards; vols. 9-15 in publisher's linen-backed boards with printed labels. Lower corner of first volume a bit worn; some toning and a touch of chipping to labels on the linen-backed volumes, especially Vol. 13 (1927); generally an excellent set with all contents bright and fresh and including all illustrations, folding plates and original advertisements. Item #207623

A spectacular set of Craig's long-running self-produced periodical, a major landmark in the history of modern theatre. Most of the content -- text, image, and design -- was generated by Craig himself under his own name as well as some sixty-odd pseudonyms. The importance of The Mask in the development of the theater in the twentieth century is hard to overstate. Visionary, multi-disciplinary, and international in scope it was Craig's principal organ for advancing a radical new approach to theatrical production that brought it out of staid forms of the nineteenth century and placed the director as the central figure in modern stagecraft. The Mask was further marked by Craig's strong sense of visual design, typography, and book-production. Complete runs are exceptionally scarce, especially in such excellent condition. Price: $7,500.00

Cather, Willa Sibert

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1915. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1915. First Edition. 8vo, [490]pp; blue cloth stamped in gilt. Bookplate to front pastedown, else close to fine in the original dust jacket, moderately rubbed with a bit shallow chipping at spine ends and a partial split along the fold of the front flap. Item #207452

The first issue, with the list of previous works on the copyright page and uncorrected text on p. 8. Rare in dust jacket. Crane A8.a.i. Price: $25,000.00

Ellington, Duke

Chicago: n.d. (1930s). Chicago: n.d. (1930s). 8 X 10 inch black and white gelatin silver print on textured matte-surface paper, with photographer's studio insignia in lower left corner. A bit of a wrinkle at the upper right corner, otherwise just about fine. Item #206233

An excellent publicity portrait of Ellington in his prime, inscribed and signed: "To the most charming Carine, loads o luck, Duke." The "Maurice" studio in Chicago was Ellington's preferred provider of publicity photos and they produced many over the years. This one shows a young and confident-looking Ellington looking directly at the camera. Price: $1,650.00

Bradbury, Ray

(Los Angeles): 1949. (Los Angeles): 1949. Tempera on cardstock paper, approx. 10 X 14 in. Wear to edges; some flaking of the surface. Item #205718

Nighttime cityscape depicting images of Los Angeles, with the central image of a streetcar filled with passengers and all around lighted signs (Bond Pants, Follies, Tivoli Theatre, Beer, Parking, Wine, Ice) a lamppost, a telephone booth, and a leafy tree. Signed "R. Bradbury - July, 1949" at the bottom. In a 2009 interview with the LA Times, Bradbury recalled his early exposure to art and stated that "painting has been part of my life since I was a child . . . My artwork doesn't inspire my writing, it's my writing that inspires my artwork." The streetcar figures in some of Bradbury's stories, including "The Trolley" in the collection Dandelion Wine. Given the date, however, it is conceivable that this image may have been inspired by a 1947 story Bradbury published in the New Yorker, in which a Mexican immigrant is forced to leave his adopted home of Los Angeles: "On many nights he had walked the silent streets and seen the bright clothes in the windows and bought some of them, and he had seen the jewels and bought some of them for his few lady friends. And he had gone to picture shows five nights a week for a while. Then, also, he had ridden the streetcars—all night some nights—smelling the electricity, his dark eyes moving over the advertisements, feeling the wheels rumble under him, watching the little sleeping houses and big hotels slip by." (Provenance: the estate of LA musician, composer, and longtime UCLA faculty member Theodore Norman, who was given the painting by Bradbury). Price: $12,000.00