[Rarebooks] fs: The White Queen -unpublished Powell Play w/2 letters

[Joslin Hall Rare Books]

Powell, John H.  THE WHITE QUEEN. A PLAY.

Unpublished typescript; Ottumwa, Iowa: 1961.

One of two unpublished historical plays by Powell, this one dealing with 
the power struggle after the death of King Henry the First in 12th century 
England. The Queen in question is Mathilda, Henry's daughter and the 
rightful heir to the throne, who has been usurped by Stephen of Blois, 
Henry's nephew, and his wife, Maude of Boulogne. Mathilda's son, Henry, 
would eventually become King Henry II.

Powell (1914-1971) was a historian who wrote "Bring Out Your Dead", a 
chronicle of the 1793 Yellow Fever epidemic, and a biography of Richard 
Rush, in addition to a number of articles for periodicals such as the 
Saturday Review of Literature, Reader's Digest, and historical journals. He 
was also a history professor at Iowa State University and the University of 
Delaware, and was research director of the Free Library of Pennsylvania 
from 1945 to 1949. The University of Iowa houses his papers.

Included here are two typewritten, signed notes to the stage actor Claude 
Horton ('Witness for the Prosecution'). The first, dated July 6, 1961, 
reminds Horton that the two met while Horton was playing in 'Kuprin' in 
Philadelphia, explains that he, Powell, left the city in favor of 
"vegetating in this alien corn" so he could concentrate better on his 
writing of which this play, 'The White Queen', which he is just finishing, 
is the penultimate result. He asks if he can send a copy along, and 
mentions that he wrote one of the play's tragic heroes, the Earl of 
Gloucester, with Horton in mind. The second letter, dated July 31st, 1961, 
announces that he is sending the play and explains it a some length. The 
first letter has several holographic corrections and a postscript.

Card covers. 8.5"x11", 187+ pages; light soil and wear; with 2 typewritten 
letters.  [06827]  $100.00


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