Lord Byron’s Love Letter Opera: In One Act

1954. fine. Mimeographed sheets, printed both sides. 13pp. Sheets stapled at one corner. Fine condition with a couple minor corrections, possibly by Williams. The typescript for the 1955 publication of the opera by G. Ricodi and Co., coinciding with its premiere at Tulane University in New Orleans on January 17 that year. The original one-act play was written before 1946 but never performed in its dramatic form during Williams's lifetime. It first appeared in print within "27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other One-Act Plays" in 1966. OCLC locates no copies of this typescript and it is not found in the Harry Ransom or Fred W. Todd collections. A significant (truncated) yet understudied intersection between American dramatic literature and operatic adaptation. Composed prior to his critically acclaimed works "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Glass Menagerie," this piece underwent transformation when Italian composer Raffaello de Banfield set it to music. The narrative centers on an elderly woman and her granddaughter who monetize their possession of what they claim to be an authentic love letter from Lord Byron, exemplifying Williams' early experimentation with themes of illusion and economic desperation that would later become hallmarks of his canonical works. This fusion of Williams' Southern Gothic style with de Banfield's European musical idiom illustrates mid-century cross-cultural artistic adaptation. (Inventory #: 1134)