The Last Eight Years, 1958 -1966; Letters from Ellen Gordon Craig

Royal octavo, 9? × 6? inches (250 × 155 mm); 59 pp. Four wood engravings, two by Edward Gordon Craig and two by John Craig. Line-block reproduction of a hand-lettered Craig family tree. Lithographic reproduction of a pencil drawing by Laura Knight, tipped in as frontispiece. Machine-set in 12-point Monotype Caslon and printed on Sommerville cream laid paper. Quarter-bound in Canapetta brown cloth by Smith Settle, with a cream spine label and orange and brown on light brown Whittington marbled paper-covered boards. Headbands; top edge brown. Strathmore Grandee Basque Brown endpapers. Copy 26 of 250 (total edition 345), signed by Edward Craig. [Butcher 65]. Twenty-five letters from Ellen Gordon Craig to her brother Edward Craig, written between 7 July 1958 and 31 July 1966 (two days after the death of their father), together with "A Selection from Nelly's Card Index." The latter, arranged alphabetically by topic, offers recollections of Edward Gordon Craig and figures from his circle (with more candid remarks discreetly omitted by the editor). The introduction, "Introducing Nelly," provides a brief account of Craig family life and of his sister. The letters are printed in italic, with notes and commentary in roman. [Butcher 65] Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) was an influential English modernist theatre practitioner. Initially an actor, he later became a director, designer, and theorist, advocating for the director as the primary creative force in theatre and controversially likening actors to marionettes. He is known for his symbolic stage designs, including the use of movable screens for a production of Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theatre, and as the editor of the international theatre journal The Mask.…