PORTER, Cole

Red Hot and Blue

New York: Random House, 1936. Item #06560

The Deluxe Signed Issue of Porter’s Broadway Hit
Including “It’s De-Lovely” and “Red, Hot and Blue”

PORTER, Cole. Red, Hot and Blue. A Musical Comedy. New York: Random House, 1936.

First edition, limited to 300 numbered copies, of which 250 were offered for sale, signed by Cole Porter - this being copy No. 44.

Folio (12 x 9 inches; 305 x 228 mm.). [6], 53, [1, blank], [1, limitation statement], [1, blank] pp. Title printed in black, red, and blue.

Publisher’s red, white, and blue watered silk over boards, covers and spine lettered in gilt. Spine very slightly faded, a touch of wear to corners, minor glue staining to inner hinges, as often encountered. A wonderful copy, with the gilt unusually bright - far better than typically seen.

A handsome and increasingly scarce deluxe issue of one of Porter’s most exuberant Broadway productions, containing the sheet music for ten songs from the 1936 musical, including the enduring standards “It’s De-Lovely” and “Red, Hot and Blue.” The production starred Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante, and Bob Hope, and followed on the heels of the enormous success of Anything Goes.

Though contemporary critics noted the freewheeling and at times chaotic nature of the libretto, the show’s vitality lay precisely in its energy, humor, and musical brilliance. As one early reviewer observed, its “low comedy bedlam” and “breezy pace” carried audiences along irresistibly, anchored by Merman’s commanding stage presence and Porter’s effortlessly sophisticated songs.

A particularly attractive example of a fragile and visually striking production, seldom found in such condition.

Price: $6,500.00