Books

First edition, tirage de tête, number 48 of 50 deluxe copies printed on japon, and a very rare survival in the original decorated wrappers (which are unique to the japon issue) that has escaped rebinding. It is the only such example we can trace in commerce. Rostand's verse play has, since its debut performance on 27 December 1897 (at which the audience were still applauding a full hour after the curtain fell), captivated audiences and readers around the globe and immortalized the 17th-century libertine writer on which its lead character was based. His heroic depiction single-handedly changed the meaning of the French word "panache" (flamboyance and reckless courage, from the cavalryman's plume) into a virtue and also introduced the word into the English language. Octavo. Original green florally patterned wrappers, front cover lettered in orange, edges uncut. Text in French. Some sunning around spine, light rubbing to ends and corners, and superficially to front joint, otherwise a near-fine copy.

Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play is a fictionalized account of his life and incorporates larger-than-life elements. It explores themes of inner versus outer beauty, love, and heroism.