The Playboy of the Western World. A Comedy in Three Acts

Dublin: Maunsel & Co., Ltd., 1909. Third Printing. Hardcover. Good/None. Unassuming exterior of quarter tan cloth with darker reddish-brown cloth laid over three-quarters, (which is peeling up a little part way down the front.) Spine darkened and lightly soiled along back. Owner's name and date pencilled on ffep, otherwise unmarked. The pages are lightly toned with age and pleasantly thick and soft with uneven edges. The binding is sound. 5 x 7 3/4 ins. BOOK INFO: Irish playwright Synge was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the co-founders of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He was best known for this, his most popular play. Illustrated with a frontispiece of a charcoal portrait of the author done at rehearsal the day before this 3-act play opened at the Abbey Theater. With a preface by the author, who brought the vocabulary and sound of the Irish language to his work from his experience growing up in Ireland: 'This matter, I think, is of importance, for in countries where the imagination of the people, and the language they use, is rich and living, it is possible for a writer to be rich and copious in his words, and at the same time to give the reality, which is the root of all poetry, in a comprehensive and natural form.' Abbey Theatre; Dublin; Irish playwright