27 Wagons Full of Cotton, and Other One-Act Plays

Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1945 New edition (Second edition), with Williams' "Something wild..." essay, which was not included in the first edition. Publisher's black cloth-backed yellow boards, with spine lettered in gilt; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Alvin Lustig, with a magnolia flower nailed to a wooden background to the front panel, lettered in white. About fine book, with light dimming to spine, and light toning to board edges; good unclipped dust jacket, with light toning to spine, some chipping to spine ends and panel edges (text unaffected), a couple of small closed tears to bottom right of rear panel, some minor splitting (truncated) to spine edges, and some significant splitting along front jacket flap fold. Overall, a sturdy and presentable copy. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton is a collection of 11 of Williams' one-act plays. In addition to the titular "27 Wagons Full of Cotton," this volume includes "The Purification," "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion," "The Last of My Solid Gold Watches," "Portrait of a Madonna," "Auto-Da-Fé," "Lord Byron's Love Letter," "The Strangest Kind of Romance," "The Long Goodbye," "Hello from Bertha," and "This Property is Condemned." Most impressively, Williams is able to infuse each play with his signature "perception about life as it is, and the passion for life as it ought to be" that made his previous plays successful, despite the somewhat limiting format of the one-act play. Indeed, the dust jacket proclaims that 27 Wagons Full of Cotton has "revived the hope that poetry can exist on the American stage," because "[Williams'] insight into human nature is that of the poet." . Second Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included. (Inventory #: TW073b)