Bygmester Solness (The Master Builder).: Skuespil i Tre Akter.

Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag,, 1892. Hurra for bygmester Solness" - a beautifully preserved copy First trade edition, cloth issue, scarce in such fine condition, particularly with the original dust jacket; we can trace no copies in jacket in auction records. With Bymester Solness, Ibsen demonstrates his mastery of dramatic poetry and autobiography in the depiction of the aging architect, Halvard Solness, who fears the diminution of his creativity. In 1891, Ibsen returned to Norway after a self-imposed 27-year exile, keenly aware that he had to refresh and sharpen his knowledge of Norwegian life. "Compared to Hedda Gabler [published two years earlier], there may be found in Solness an even more intense realism. But there is the same intensity of dramatic situation, the same unfailing microscopic skill in the portrayal of character, and, above all, the same precision and power in studying and tracing the sources and growth of emotion" (Price, p. 258). Under the illusion that publication was necessary to protect his copyright, Ibsen had 12 copies each of Hedda Gabler, The Master Builder, and John Gabriel Borkman printed in London just prior to their publication by Gyldendal. Bygmester Solness was published in December 1890 and had its premiere on 19 January 1893 at the Lessing Theatre in Berlin. Provenance: from the library of the Norwegian philanthropist Aagot Juel (1859-1937), with her signature on the front flyleaf and title page. Aagot was the wife of Jens Harald Andreas Alfstad (1851-1936), the editor of the pro-liberal newspaper Drammens Tidende (1882-1890) and an avid art collector. Together, the couple set up a sizeable trust for the people of Drammen, Norway. Ibsen's play, John Gabriel Borkman was performed in Norway for the first time in Drammen, and it was "the only time Ibsen let a provincial theatre be honoured in such a way" (Drammens Tidende). Octavo. Original grey cloth, spine lettered in gilt, spine and front cover richly decorated in gilt and black, patterned endpapers, gilt edges, red silk bookmarker. With dust jacket. Cloth bright; jacket fresh and unclipped, two short closed tears to head of front panel, one to foot of spine, corners nicked: a fine copy in fine jacket. Den Internasjonale Ibsen Bibliografien ("The International Ibsen Bibliography"), accessible online; Norske Førsteudgaver ("Norwegian First editions"), p. 5; Printing and the Mind of Man 375. Thomas R. Price, "Solness: A Study of Ibsen's Dramatic Method", Sewanee Review, May 1894; Sandra E. Saari, "Of Madness or Fame: Ibsen's Bygmester Solness", Scandinavian Studies, 1978, pp. 1-18.