Jarry, Alfred

Ubu Roi (Two Editions)

ISBN: 0852470630
London, England, UK: Gaberbocchus Press, 1961; 1966. Second Edition. “This book, this play, this drama….Jarry was not very definite in his descriptions of Ubu Roi. Andre Gide called it ‘the most extraordinary thing seen in the Theatre for a long time’. Sacha Guitry went further: ‘The question whether or not it is a masterpiece seems to me idle. I believe it is a masterpiece of its kind. You will ask, what is its kind? That is very difficult to define, for it is neither strictly humor nor strictly parody. It is not related to any other form of literature…if I were forced to classify this phenomenon I should put it first among excessive caricatures, ranking it with the most original and powerful burlesques of all time.’ Since its publication and production in 1896, Ubu Roi has always been subjected to exalted claims or exaggerated scorn. What it really is becomes more apparent if one considers what its author really was.”--Barbara Wright, pg. 5. Alfred Jarry (1873-1907) was a French symbolist writer, and forerunner of the Dada, Surrealist, and Futurist movements of the 1920s and 30s as well as often being cited as the father of the Theatre of the Absurd. Offered today are two editions of Jarry’s most well-known work, and perhaps his magnum opus, Ubu Roi. Ubu Roi was first performed in Paris in 1896, by Aurélien Lugné-Poe's Théâtre de l'Œuvre at the Nouveau-Théâtre (today, the Théâtre de Paris). The production's single public performance baffled and offended audiences with its unruliness and obscenity. A wild, bizarre and comic play, significant for its overturning of cultural rules, norms and conventions, it is regarded by 20th- and 21st-century scholars as having opened the door for what became known as modernism in the 20th century, as well as the movements mentioned above. The story is a parody of Shakespeare's (1564-1616) Macbeth and some parts of Hamlet and King Lear. As the play begins, Ubu's wife convinces him to lead a revolution, and kills the King of Poland and most of the royal family. The King's son, Bougrelas, and the Queen escape, but the latter later dies. The ghost of the dead king appears to his son and calls for revenge. Back at the palace, Ubu, now King, begins heavily taxing the people and killing the nobles for their wealth. Ubu's henchman gets thrown into prison; he then escapes to Russia, where he has the Tsar declare war on Ubu. As Ubu heads out to confront the invading Russians, his wife tries to steal the money and treasures in the palace. She is driven away by Bougrelas, who is leading a revolt of the people against Ubu. She runs away to her husband, Ubu, who has, in the meantime, been defeated by the Russians, been abandoned by his followers, and been attacked by a bear. Ubu's wife pretends to be the angel Gabriel, in order to try to scare Ubu into forgiving her for her attempt to steal from him. They fight, and she is rescued by the entrance of Bougrelas, who is after Ubu. Ubu knocks down the attackers with the body of the dead bear, after which he and his wife flee to France, which ends the play. The action contains motifs found in the plays of Shakespeare: a king's murder and a scheming wife from Macbeth, the ghost and Fortinbras' revolt from Hamlet, the reneging of Buckingham's reward from Richard III, and the pursuing bear from The Winter's Tale. It also includes other cultural references, for example, to Sophocles' (497-406 BC) Oedipus Rex (Œdipe Roi in French) in the play's title. Ubu Roi is considered a descendant of the comic grotesque French Renaissance author François Rabelais (1494-1553) and his Gargantua and Pantagruel novels. The language of the play is a unique mix of slang code-words, puns and near-gutter vocabulary, set to strange speech patterns. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England with Bill Butler (1934-1977), the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see for example our item no.s 8217, 8366). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining treasures of Unicorn & Public House, some of which have become the stuff of myth. [1] Softcover, third edition, second printing. This edition of Ubu Roi is a compact paperback printed by photo-offset in black on white paper, published simultaneously by New Directions in New York & Gaberbocchus in London in 1961 as stated at copyright page. In relatively fine-very fine condition with moderate wear to fine edges, slight chipping/scratching near spine, moderate smudging/scratching to front and back covers, and slight discoloration due to age-toning to same and throughout interior. [2] Hardcover issued without dust jacket as published, third edition, first printing. This edition is printed by photo-offset in black and red on grey and yellow paper and was published by Gaberbocchus in London in 1966 & reprinted in 1969 as stated at copyright page. In relatively very fine condition with only minor wear to fine edges, slight scratching/staining to front and back plates, and slight discoloration due to age-toning to front and back covers. Fine-Very Fine; Very Fine. [Item #8642]

Price: $250.00