18 Washington Square, South

Boston: Walter H. Baker Company, 1944. First Edition. Very Good. First edition. A fantastic association copy of Newbery Medal-winning author Madeleine L'Engle's first published work. L'Engle's own mother's copy, with her ownership signature penciled to the top margin of the front cover. Wear to spine, small tidemark to top margin of rear cover, pages toned and gentle vertical bend throughout. A play about two girls who move to New York to get into theater, somewhat of a wish fulfillment tale penned by a young L'Engle who had recently moved to the city, as the beloved children's fantasy author was first an actress and playwright before she turned her (truncated) talents toward literature. It was not until shortly after the publication of this play, she began work on her first novel, A Small Rain. Her best-known work, A Wrinkle in Time, was published in 1962 and won the Newbery Medal the following year. Copies of this play are indeed scarce and the work has not been anthologized. (Inventory #: 140942531)