I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Lady in the Dark
New York: Random House, 1941. Item #06673
“T0 L.B., Fellow Songster”
Ira Gershwin to Leslie Bricusse - A Witty Exchange in Verse
With Bricusse’s Playful Reply Laid In
[GERSHWIN, Ira]. [BRICUSSE, Leslie]. HART, Moss. Lady in the Dark. With lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by Kurt Weill. New York: Random House, [1941].
First edition, first printing. Octavo (8 x 5 3/8 inches; 203 x 137 mm.). xvi, [1–2], 3–182, [2, blank] pp. Inserted photogravure frontispiece. Publisher’s blue cloth over boards, front cover and spine blocked in red and lettered in gilt, top edge stained red. Original black dust jacket printed in red and white, spine slightly faded, front spine fold neatly repaired. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket.
Inscribed in pencil by Ira Gershwin on the front free endpaper to Leslie Bricusse:
“To L.B., fellow songster:
When music and lyrics are tackled by Bricusse, Leslie -
the results emerge neatly and
sweetly - never mess’ly.
The above, plus affection, from
Ira Gershwin
Beverly Hills, Sept., ’71.”
A superb and highly personal inscription - Gershwin addressing Bricusse as a peer, and doing so in the very medium that defined them both: light verse, rhythm, and rhyme.
Laid in is a one-page reply from Leslie Bricusse, on his printed stationery and dated 29 September 1971, returning the compliment in kind:
“Lasting thanks to lovely Ira
From his number one admira!
He who finds a rhyme for Gershwin
Will a prize for drunken versh win!
(He who finds a rhyme for Bricusse
Also somehow needs to tricusse)….”
This playful exchange - composer to composer, lyricist to lyricist - captures a moment of mutual admiration between two major figures of twentieth-century musical theater and film. Such paired inscriptions are exceptionally rare, preserving not only authorship but dialogue: a call and response in verse.
Lady in the Dark itself stands as a landmark collaboration, uniting Gershwin with Moss Hart and Kurt Weill in one of the most innovative musical plays of its era, blending psychoanalytic themes with sophisticated lyricism. That this copy should carry a later inscription to Bricusse - whose own work helped define the next generation of musical theatre - creates a compelling bridge between traditions.
A remarkable association copy - elevated by wit, reciprocity, and the rare survival of a creative exchange between two master lyricists.
Price: $3,500.00