Description

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1923. Hardcover, 128 pp. First US edition. Acceptable+ / NO dust jacket. Light blue paper over Boards with dark blue cloth on spine. Nicking and chipping to paper over corner tips of the front cover with a bit of the underlying boards exposed. Light to moderate overall scuffing, aging and soiling to covers as well. Binding tight. Pages lightly aged but otherwise unmarked. NOT Ex-Library. NO remainder marks. John Drinkwater (1882 - 1937) was and English poet and dramatist. He was one of the group of poets associated with the Gloucestershire village of Dymock prior to WWI. Drinkwater had his first major success in 1918 with his play Abraham Lincoln. Robert E. Lee was John Drinkwater's sixth full-length dramatic work, and his fourth about a great historical character. Due to Drinkwater's previous dramatic successes, in an unusual step, the play was published simultaneously in book form. It met with limited success, following his more popular play, Abraham Lincoln. The play opens on the morning of April 18th 1861, the day on which Virginia voted to join the Southern states in secession. Lee meets with General Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army and is faced with the momentous decision of where his loyalties lie. The play moves from this simple but arresting opening, through scenes of bitter warfare, to its inevitable end.