A Woman of No Importance. London, John Lane, 1894. First Edition. Pp 154 + 15 of adverts, uncut. Publisher’s pink cloth, with gilt lettering and designs by Charles Shannon. With a page listing the players in the production at Haymarket Theatre, London – April 19th, 1893.

One of Five Hundred Copies Printed.

A Woman Of No Importance’ premiered at the Haymarket Theatre on 19th April, 1893. A review which appeared in ‘Word’ stated: “It is not his wit, then, and still less his knack of paradox-twisting, that makes me claim for him a place apart among living dramatists. It is the keenness of his intellect, the individuality of his point of view, the excellence of his verbal style, and above all the genuinely dramatic quality of his inspirations. I do not hesitate to call the scene between Lord Illingworth and Mrs. Arbuthnot at the end of the second act of this play the most virile and intelligent – yes, I mean it, the most intelligent- piece of English dramatic writing of our day.”

This copy with a typed letter signed by Fred Terry, who played Gerald Arbuthnot in the original production, at the Haymarket Theatre.