BECKETT (Samuel). - Lot 93

BECKETT (Samuel). Oh les beaux jours. A play in two acts. Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit, [1963]. - In-16, 184 x 99: 89 pp. (1 blank), printed cover. Black half-maroquin with corners, smooth spine, gilt head, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (Alix). Vignes, 429. French first edition of one of Samuel Beckett's most famous plays. Written in English between 1960 and 1961, under the title Happy Days, it premiered in New York and London in 1962, before being staged in French by Roger Blin the following year, in October 1963, in Beckett's own translation, with Madeleine Renaud and Jean-Louis Barrault, at the Théâtre de l'Odéon. Although it met with mixed critical reactions, as had been the case for En attendant Godot (1953) and Fin de partie (1957), Madeleine Renaud's performance as Winnie was unanimously acclaimed. One of 87 first copies on pur fil vellum, perfectly bound by Alix. A very well preserved copy. Provenance: André Varay, with bookplate. - Erika Varay, with bookplate.