Requiem for a Nun

FAULKNER, William and Ruth Ford

Published by Random House, New York, 1959

About this Item

First edition. Fine in a price-clipped near fine dustwrapper with some modest toning on the spine. A play from the Faulkner novel adapted by Ruth Ford. Inscribed by Ford to Tony Award-winning actress Marian Seldes: "Merry Christmas and love to Marian Seldes from Ruth Ford 1963." Ford, the Mississippi-born sister of surrealist author Charles Henri Ford, was a beautiful model and actress, first for Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, and later in films and theater. Notably, she starred on Broadway in Jean Paul Sartre's *No Exit* in 1946, under the direction of John Huston (the last of five Broadway plays he directed). Her apartment in the Dakota became a salon for authors such as Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Terrence McNally, and Truman Capote. A chance encounter between Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents in her Manhattan living room led to their collaboration, with her Dakota-neighbor Leonard Bernstein, on *West Side Story*. Similarly, she brought together Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight to create the celebrated stories of *Eloise*, the little girl who lived at the Plaza. Seldes, daughter of important journalist Gilbert Seldes, later married director and author Garson Kanin. Ford is well known also for her long friendship with William Faulkner, which began with her dating his brother Dean in the early 1930s. Faulkner was openly smitten with Ford for many years. He wrote his experimental 1951 title *Requiem for a Nun*, a sequel to his early and controversial novel *Sanctuary*, with her in mind. He further declared, to the consternation of his agent and publisher, that it was her dramatic property (*Requiem for a Nun* was a mixture of stage play and novel). Stage production of the title stalled for years, partly because Faulkner's experimental drama did not lend itself to live theatre, and partly because the producers were unsure of Ford's suitability. Faulkner was adamant that it was her dramatic property, and in 1959 she adapted the play herself and starred in its London production opposite Scott. Her stage version received enthusiastic reviews in both London and New York, but did not fare so well with audiences and closed after a short run on Broadway. Ford continued to act on both stage and screen well into the 1980s. She passed away in 2009 at the age of 98. Seller Inventory # 421079

Bibliographic Details

Title: Requiem for a Nun

Publisher: Random House, New York

Publication Date: 1959

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition